Review: Scottish National Portrait Gallery

Start from the top: What's the appeal of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery?
A gallery rammed with pictures of people you don’t know sounds a bit dull, doesn’t it? But not so in this case, because the Scottish National Portrait Gallery is a truly spectacular institution with some genuinely fascinating depictions of humans, alive and dead. It also houses Scotland’s National Photography Collection, and recently starting displaying landscapes, too, to give context to the portraits.

Okay, take us inside the gallery. What do you see?
The building alone is something special. Designed in the Gothic Revival style, it’s like Dracula’s mansion, and was the first gallery in the world to house portraiture when it opened 1889. Its rooms are a feast for the eyes, with vaulted ceilings, stained glass, and carefully painted friezes and murals.

How about the paintings themselves?
There is a lot to see here, but don’t feel pressured to look at every single picture. Some of the most important exhibits include Alexander Nasmyth’s definitive portrait of Robert Burns, Scotland’s national poet, and Richard Wilson’s portrait of the woman who saved Charles Edward Stuart from capture by the English after the failed Jacobite Rebellion. Look out for more modern classics too, like Annie Leibovitz’s 1980 depiction of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, photographed the day Lennon was shot.

How are the staff members?
Friendly and efficient.

It sounds lovely, honestly. When you get down to it, who do you think it's best for?
This is the sort of gallery that most people will enjoy, kids included. Even if you don’t have time to pop in, though, it’s worth just walking past the building. Those two sculptures manning the doorway? William Wallace and Robert the Bruce, Scotland’s national heroes.