Lady Arabella Stuart (1575 – 1615)
This sad token of the short life of Lady Arabella Stuart is a ‘protest portrait’ and is one of the hundreds of pewter pieces in the Stirling Smith collections. Arabella was an English noblewoman of Scottish descent, a great-great-granddaughter of
Sphagnum Moss
For the next 8 weeks, the main subject at the Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum will be the story, the glory and the environmental importance of Scotland’s peat bogs. The carse lands in and around Stirling were formerly peat bogs, created through the growth of mosses. The healing properties
Gil Blas
Featured today is one of T. S Smith’s lesser known paintings. It is an illustration for an episode in the novel ‘Gil Blas’ written by Alain-Rene Lesage in 1735. Few today know anything of this novel, but it was read, appreciated and referenced by many other writers including Jonathan Swift,
John Duncan, Stirling Golf Club
At this time of year, we look forward to the years to come, as well as the year which has been. Stirling Golf Club members are looking forward to celebrating the 150th anniversary of the founding of their Club in 2019. Here is a story central to the success of
Owain Kirby, Linocut Artist
This hand -printed Stirling Christmas card of 2005 is one of many in the Stirling Christmas exhibition at the Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum, and is the work of artist Owain Kirby. Although Owain was born in Greenock and spent his childhood in other parts of Scotland, after graduating
Drinka Pinta Milka Day, 1961
The Stirling Christmas exhibition in the Stirling Smith contains many iconic images from the recent past. This photograph was taken from a bus on the Glasgow Road, Stirling, on a grim winter’s day, giving the bus driver’s view. The photographer was A D S MacPherson (1913 – 2009), a freelancer.
A bit of Scottish Theatre History
This booking form for the MacRobert’s First Spectacular Family Pantomime in 1978 – 1979 is one of a small collection of treasures gifted by Stirling designer Michael Chatfield. Forty years on, the MacRobert has one of the best of the traditional Scottish pantos, eagerly anticipated each year by the fans
Unpicking Pickwick
For over 10 years, a group of readers has been meeting at the Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum under the guidance of Dickens expert Professor Grahame Smith to read the works of Charles Dickens. They have read every work by Dickens and have now moved on to other classics
Eagle Flies in Stirling
St. Andrew’s Day is officially celebrated as a public holiday in Scotland thanks to the work of Stirling politician Dennis Canavan and his St Andrew’s Day Bank Holiday (Scotland) Act 2007. The Stirling Smith has celebrated with special events over the years, and next Thursday hosts the book launch of
The Star Spangled Barrel
People sometimes question the ‘relevance’ of museum collections. Right now, the Stirling Smith’s collection is the inspiration for an international anti-gun campaign in the wake of the mass shooting in Las Vegas, 1 October. Black American artist and political activist Ray Noland, who helped Obama’s election campaign in 2008