Robert Burns and Alexander Nasmyth at Roslin Castle

	Artist: James Nasmyth
	Title: Robert Burns and Alexander Nasmyth at Roslin Castle
	Year: undated
	Medium: oil on canvas, copy of a sketch made in 1786
	Dimensions:
	Suggested topic: built environment
	Source: RSA
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Description: James Nasmyth was a landscape painter and was also involved with the development of the steam engine.In 1787 the poet, Robert Burns, and James Nasmyth's father Alexander, visited Roslin Castle, a few miles south of Edinburgh. Alexander recalled the day:One morning in the early part of the summer of 1787 we met at my house at 5 o'clock. The morning was fine and we walked out to that Romantic Spot. It was the first time that my friend had been there. I had the pleasure of taking him down the rocky and well-wooded banks of the Esk. This was one of the days of my life that I look back to with intense pleasure.He also made a sketch that his son James later turned into this painting. Burns stands under the bridge that leads to the castle gate and Alexander can be seen on the shady bank, making his sketch. So this painting started as a sketch made by the father (who included himself in the picture), which was then painted by his son. The painting is painstakingly executed, with very fine detail in the trees and on the brickwork of the castle walls. The palette chosen allows us to enjoy the warm red glow of the sunrise, as well as sensing the cool shadows suggested by the deeper and more sombre tones of the trees and castle.Although this is a faithful and quite realistic record of an event, the scene has been manipulated for added drama. The figures are unnaturally small and the rosy dawn gives a dramatic outline to the figure of Burns. It is almost as though Burns alone has chosen this spot to reflect on the beauty of the world through this illuminated gateway.