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Description: | oil painting
This portrait of Cardinal Beaton, Archbishop of St Andrews, shows only his head and shoulders. He wears a scarlet mozzetta (short cape) around his shoulders and scarlet biretta (square cap) on his head.
Balfour House, Scotland - After a portrait of Cardinal David Beaton once at Balfour House, Fife, (Balfour House is owned by the Beaton family) and now at Wemyss Castle, Fife. This portrait was believed to be an authentic likeness of Beaton and according to Sir J.L. Caw (in 'Scottish Portaits'), was possibly painted during Beaton's visit to Italy in 1541, which he made with the intention of obtaining appointment as papal legate. However, the Scottish National Portrait Gallery staff feeel that the painting is not contemporary and that its style suggests that it was probably painted in France around fifty years after the Cardinal's death. It is now almost certain that the Cardinal never went to Rome (see Dr Margaret Sanderson, 'Cardinal of Scotland', 1986). He did, however, spend time in Paris.
The Blairs portait of Beaton, is similar to the Balfour one but, however, depicts an older man. This portrait originally belonged to the Scots College in Rome but was brought to Scotland in 1829 by Abbe Macpherson and placed in Blairs College, Aberdeen. It was probably painted around sixty years after the Cardinal's death and after the foundation of the Scots College in 1600, at a time when there was a cult in Rome for paintings of Catholic martryrs. It was probably based on an 'authentic' portrait, possibly the Balfour Beaton discussed above or possibly on a believed contemporary sketch done by a French artist, now lost.
A copy of the Blairs portait was made by the Aberdonian artist Giles c. 1820 and is now in Fyvie Castle.
(Information from correspondence from Sir Alexander Sharp Bethune to Ian Carradice, Keeper of Collections, University of St Andrews, July 1995; 'Reputed Portraits of Cardinal Beaton': letter from Sir Alexander Sharp Bethune published in Country Life, December 26 1952; and David McRoberts, 'Potraits of Cardinal Beaton' in Innes Review, 1945, pp.100-103). | Publisher: | University of St Andrews | Rights holder: | 47795 | Subjects: | PORTRAIT ARCHBISHOP CHANCELLOR painting | Temporal: | 1896/1896 | Source: | University of St Andrews | Creator: | HAYNES, Edward Trevannyon | Identifier: | HC141 | Language: | en-GB |
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