Monarch of the Glen

Sir Edwin Landseer was one of the most famous British artists of the nineteenth century. He was a child prodigy, and from the age of eight he exhibited and sold his work regularly. The minimum age for full membership in the Royal Academy in London was twenty-eight, and Landseer duly became an academician at that time. He was knighted in 1850 and in 1865 declined the presidency of the Royal Academy due to illness. He died in 1873, a successful and wealthy man.

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Despite being an Englishman, Landseer had an affection and affinity for Scotland. From 1824 until his death, he made annual visits to Scotland to paint, to hunt, and to fish. The animal kingdom became the subject for much of his output. His most famous painting. Monarch of the Glen, which dates to about 1851 and was originally destined for the House of Lords, depicts a proud elk commanding its surroundings. The four bronze lions at the base of Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square, London, were modeled by Landseer and put into place in 1867.

The National Galleries of Scotland are mounting an exhibition entitled Monarch of the Glen: Landseer in the Highlands, which is on view at the Royal Scottish Academy Building in Edinburgh until July 10. The curator is Richard Ormond, and the sponsors are the Friends of the National Galleries of Scotland with support from Sotheby's and Johnston Press. The accompanying catalogue, edited by the curator, contains essays by other scholars and may be obtained in North America from the Antique Collectors' Club by telephoning 800-252-5231.

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