Cardinal Beaton's Palace, Cowgate

Category

Library Item

Item no

1035

Title

Cardinal Beaton's Palace, Cowgate

Description

Cardinal Beaton's Palace, (otherwise known as the palace of the Archbishop of St Andrews) Cowgate, Edinburgh. Men with whips lead horses and carts along the street. A cart driver unloads a basket carried by a man with a stick while two women watch from the stairs and other people walk past. Across the road, furniture is lined up along the side of the building with washing strung above it.

Artist / maker

Skene, James

Date

1818

Size

16 x 24 cm.

Type

Lithograph

Location

Edinburgh and Scottish Collection

Cardinal Beaton's Palace, in The Cowgate, Edinburgh. Cardinal David Beaton was a sixteenth-century Archbishop of St.Andrews who was part of the pro-French faction in Scotland and played a prominent part in bringing Mary of Guise to Scotland as James V's wife. He was murdered in 1546 in retaliation for his part in the execution of George Wishart, religious activist.

The Cowgate runs from its junction with St Mary's Street (formerly St Mary's Wynd) and the Pleasance to the Grassmarket. It was the route by which cattle were driven into town from outside Edinburgh. The Cowgate Port was a gateway through the Flodden wall (City Wall).

The composition of this picture is very similar to that of item no: 1036.

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Related subjects

Homes > Residential buildings > Castles and palaces

Places > Scotland > Edinburgh

Religion > Religious facilities > Catholic churches

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