John McKirdy Duncan, R.S.A.

Purchased from the Royal Scottish Academy in 1929 by a 'Glasgow businessman';
Sale: Sotheby's Belgravia, 6 October 1980, lot 66;  
Louise Whitford & David Hughes Gallery, London 1981;               
Sale: Christie's, 5 November 1993, lot 140;
Private Collection

Edinburgh, Royal Scottish Academy, 1929, no.188

Helen Smailes and Duncan Thomson, The Queen's Image, Exhibition Catalogue for the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh, 1987, cat. no. 67;
John Kemplay, The Paintings of John Duncan: A Scottish Symbolist, 1994, pp. 115-117

The panel is sound. There are pin holes to the upper right and upper left corners. There is frame abrasion to the extreme edges, particularly visible to the upper and right edges. On close inspection there is some extremely minor damage to the board in the extreme upper corners. There is a small scratch to the upper half of the extreme right edge. There are some very slightly unstable fleck of medium towards the centre of the lower edge and a tiny fleck of paint loss. Otherwise in good condition. Ultraviolet light reveals an extremely minor spot of retouching to the lower left section. Held in the original ornately carved gold painted frame in fair condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

 "Alive a Queene, noe dead I am a Sainte;      
Once Mary calld, my name Nowe Martyr is;     
From earthly raigne debarred by restraint,
In lieuw whereof I raigne in heavenly blisse."
Robert Southwell, 15^th Century             

This is the primary version of a composition which is well-known from a replica at the University of St. Andrews, which was commissioned by Sir David Russell after he saw the present picture at the Royal Scottish Academy Summer Exhibition in 1929.

Mary is depicted in a calm meditation during the last hours of her captivity at the castle of Fotheringhay near Peterborough on February 8th 1587. She is attended by two loyal hand-maids, one of whom Jane Kennedy, has fallen prostrate behind her Queen, covering her mouth the stifle her panicked screams. Her other attendant Elizabeth Curle, in rose-hued robes clutches nervously at the wall hangings and turns with an expression of fear as she hears the footsteps of the men who will take Mary to her execution. The tapestries depict a violent battle, foreshadowing the brutality which will soon befall the doomed Queen, who remains noble and strong in the face of death. Her hands rests for reassurance on an open bible and rosary and around her neck hangs a crucifix, denoting her religious fervor. The only sign of her fear is her tensely clenched hand, but she manages to keep her composure whilst her Ladies-in-Waiting abandon themselves to terror.

Duncan wrote the following account to David Russell when he was painting the St. Andrews picture; 'In Fotheringhay the Queen was closely confined, was allowed no communication with the outer world, and was even denied the services of her confessor. She stood in hourly dread of private assassination. No definite term to her sufferings was accorded her. Any stir in the castle, the clatter of hooves in the courtyard, at once suggests that the time has come.'

Duncan studied contemporary depictions of Mary, including a likeness after Clouet in the Royal Collection and a portrait by Rowland Lockley in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery and felt an 'imperative duty to get to the real Mary and then present her sympathetically'. He embroidered his own Symbolist ideas into the historical subject, painting Elizabeth Curle dressed in purple to denote tragedy, whilst Jane Kennedy is dressed in hopeful green. The tapestry has been seen as symbolizing the struggle of Protestant and Catholic religion.

Two further versions of this picture are known, a small tempera (11 ¾ by 9 ½ in) and a larger tempera in the Gordon Bottomley Bequest at the Carlisle City Art Gallery. There is also a large drawing in black chalks in a private collection. The existence of these versions, demonstrates the importance of the subject for Duncan and the popularity of the primary version.