Description of the attraction
The National Portrait Gallery of Scotland is an art gallery in the Scottish capital of Edinburgh. It houses the National Collection of Portraits and also houses the National Collection of Photography.
The exhibition is based on a collection of portraits of the great Scots, collected by the Earl of Buchan at the end of the 18th century. In the 19th century, the idea of creating a national portrait gallery was widely discussed in society, but the government was in no hurry to allocate funds for the establishment of such a gallery. John Richie Findlay, owner of the Scotsman newspaper and renowned philanthropist, brought this idea to life and the gallery opened its doors to the public in 1889.
Findlay hired architect Robert Anderson to build the building. Anderson created a modern building designed specifically to house an art gallery that rivaled the finest of its kind in Europe and America at the time.
The building itself was built in the neo-gothic style, using red sandstone as the material. The northern and eastern facades are richly decorated with sculptures depicting poets, kings and statesmen. Statues of Knight William Wallace and King Robert the Bruce "guard" the entrance to the building.
Inside, there are portraits of famous Scots from all eras: ancient kings and national heroes, statesmen, scientists, poets and writers, as well as our prominent contemporaries.
Now in the collection of the gallery there are 1113 paintings, 582 drawings, 194 sculptures and 577 photographs.
