EDINBURGH.- One of the most celebrated paintings in the world – the iconic Monarch of the Glen by Sir Edwin Landseer – will embark on a landmark tour around Scotland this week, following its acquisition for the nation earlier this year.

Landseer’s masterpiece, which was painted in 1851, famously depicts a proud stag imperiously surveying a Highlands landscape, and is recognised the world over as an image closely associated with Scotland.

Following a four-month fundraising campaign, the painting was acquired in March by the National Galleries of Scotland, with overwhelming support from the public, from The National Lottery, Art Fund, private trusts and foundations, Scottish Government acquisition grant funding and by a part gift by previous owners Diageo Scotland Ltd.

After a summer of attracting admiring crowds in Edinburgh, The Monarch of the Glen will now tour to four major venues around Scotland, beginning with Inverness Museum and Art Gallery, where it will be on display from 6 October until 18 November. It is NGS’s ambition to share its collection and work in partnership with communities across Scotland; over the course of the tour, which has been supported with additional funding from The National Lottery and the Scottish Government, the painting will also be shown at Perth Museum and Art Gallery, Paisley Museum and Art Gallery and Kirkcudbright Galleries.

Commenting, Sir John Leighton, Director-General of the National Galleries of Scotland said: “Thanks to the generosity of The National Lottery and the Scottish Government we are able to take this fantastic picture across the country to be enjoyed by as many people as possible. We want this tour of The Monarch of the Glen to be seen as a huge thank you for the overwhelming support that we received during the fundraising campaign and as a celebration that this amazing work of art now belongs to all the people of Scotland. We hope that it will be admired and debated by audiences across the country.”

Fiona Hyslop, Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism and External Affairs, added: “This tour is an exciting opportunity for people of all ages and backgrounds across Scotland to access and enjoy this iconic painting in their own communities. I am confident this will further inspire many to seek out new opportunities to engage in culture and the arts. I am pleased the Scottish Government was able to support both the acquisition of the painting and its tour with a total of £175,000 funding and I look forward to seeing the Monarch of the Glen continue to attract visitors from far and wide in the years to come.”

Ian Murray, Chief Executive of High Life Highland who manage and operate Inverness Museum and Art Gallery, added: “We are very pleased to be working in partnership with the National Galleries of Scotland to support bringing this iconic painting to Inverness. The Monarch of the Glen is an immediately recognisable image to people in Scotland and across the world and we are delighted that residents and visitors to the Highlands have a chance to see the painting when it comes to Inverness this week.”

Landseer (1802-73) was intoxicated by the Scottish Highlands. He first visited the country in 1824 and was overwhelmed and inspired by the experience of the landscape and its people; he returned annually in late summer and the autumn on sketching expeditions, developing a particular affinity with the novelist Sir Walter Scott and his work. The resulting paintings range from intimate and remarkably fresh landscape studies, painted on the spot, to his most famous large-scale picture, The Monarch of the Glen. They played a key role in formulating the deeply attractive and romantic image of the Highlands, which still resonates today.

The Monarch of the Glen was originally intended as part a series of three works to be displayed in the House of Lords, but the scheme was never realised and the painting was sold to a private collector soon after its completion. From the moment it was first exhibited in 1851 at the Royal Academy in London it proved immensely popular, and the admiration has continued right up to the present day. It was widely reproduced in the nineteenth century, especially through steel engravings, and in 1916 it was purchased by Sir Thomas Dewar. From that point it was regularly employed as a marketing image, first by Pears Soap and then by John Dewar & Sons Distillery and Glenfiddich. Subsequently it was also appropriated by Nestlé and Baxter’s Soup. Through its widespread use in commercial advertising and in popular culture, the picture has become instantly recognizable yet it remains an extremely powerful work of art and a rich source of debate about issues of history and identity.