Name: SIR WILLIAM ALLAN, P.R.S.A. (SCOTTISH, 1782-1850)
Brand: John Knox Admonishing Mary Queen of Scots on the Day when her intention to Marry Darnley had been made Public
Price: 20000.00 GBP
Availability: OutOfStock

SIR WILLIAM ALLAN, P.R.S.A. (SCOTTISH, 1782-1850)
John Knox Admonishing Mary Queen of Scots on the Day when her intention to Marry Darnley had been made Public
signed and dated 'William Allan/Pinx: 1823.' (lower right) and further signed and inscribed 'John Knox Admonishing Mary Queen of Scots/ Knox in his history of the Reformation, gives a full account of the interview he had with Mary/ on the day when her intention to marry Darnley had been made public. The following is/ part of it./"Madam, I man obey him qwho comands me to speik plane, and to flater no Flesch/ upon the face of the Earth"_"Bot quhat have you to do with my mariage? (said the Queen)/ or quhat are ye in this Comon-welth?"-"a subject borne within the same" (said he) Madam,/ and albeit I be nyther Erle, Lord, nor Barron within it, yet hes God maid me (how abject/that eveir I be in your Eies) a profitabill member within the sam"; and therefore Madam to/ yourself I say that quhilk I spake in publict place; Zuhesoevir that the Nobility of this realm/ sall consent, that ye be subject to an unfaythfull husband, they do als mekle as in thame/ lyeth to renunce Christ, to banisch his treuth from thame, to betray the Fredom of this/ Realme, and perchance sall in the end do small comfort to yourself". At these words owling/ was hard and tears mycht have bein sene in gritter abundance than the mater requyred/ John Erskin of Dun, a man of meik and gentill spirit, stude besyde and entreited quhat he/ culd to mitigat his anger and gave unto his many pleising words of hir Bewty, of hir Excellency,/ and how that all the Princes of Europe wald be glad to seik hir Favour.”/William Allan,/Edinburgh; and/ 34 King Street, Covent Garden' (on the artist's label attached to the reverse)
oil on panel
35³⁄₄ x 28 in. (90.8 x 71.1 cm.)

The artist, from whom purchased by
William Trotter of Ballandean (1772–1833), Edinburgh, by 1824, and by descent to his son
Charles Trotter (b. 1816).
Jane Carfrae (b. 1870), Montrave Villa, Murrayfield, by 1912, until at least 1918.
Possibly, Robert Nesham (1846-1928); Christie's, London, 23 July 1928, part lot 186, as 'John Knox admonishing Mary Queen of Scots' (21 gns to Sampson).
Possibly, with William Walker Sampson, The British Galleries, London.
Victor Bowring-Hanbury (1867-1943); Christie's, London, 19 February 1934, part lot 170, as 'John Knox and Mary Queen of Scots' (8¹⁄₂ gns to G.J. Williams).
Anonymous sale; Christie's, London, 17 October 1986, lot 73, where purchased by the present owner.

Letter from Raeburn to Wilkie, 12 March 1823 (National Library of Scotland, MS 983 fos 162-163).
Letter from Andrew Wilson to Andrew Geddes, 30 May 1823 (Edinburgh University Library, Laing MSS La.IV.26, Geddes correspondence).
'Mr. Allan's Picture,' The Scots Magazine, vol. 92, Edinburgh, 12 September 1823, pp. 347-350.
'The Exhibition at Somerset House,' Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, vol. 14, Edinburgh, July 1823, pp. 10-11, as 'John Knox remonstrating with Queen Mary on her intended marriage with Darnley'.
S. Urban, 'Obituary-Sir William Allan, R.A.,' The Gentleman's Magazine, vol. XXXIII, London, April 1850, p. 442.
Hogg's Instructor, vol. 5, London, 1850, p. 83, as 'Knox Admonishing Mary, queen of Scots'.
The Annual Register, or a View of the History and Politics of the Year 1850, London, 1851, p. 210.
R. W. Buss, ed., The Almanack of the Fine Arts for the Year 1852, Being Bissextile, or Leap Year, London, 1852, p. 44.
J. Anderson, A History of Edinburgh From the Earliest Period to the Completion of the Half Century 1850, with Brief notices of Eminent or Remarkable Individuals, Edinburgh and London, 1856, p. 542, as 'Knox Lecturing Queen Mary'.
J. P. Lawson, Scotland Delineated, London, 1858, p. 53, in the footnote.
W. Sandby, The Royal Academy of Arts From Its Foundation in 1768 to the Present Time With Biographical Notices of All the Members, vol. II, London, 1862, p. 154.
J. M. Graham, An Historical View of Literature and Art in Great Britain, London, 1871, p. 363, as 'Mary Queen of Scots admonished by John Knox'.
L. Viardot, et al., An Illustrated History of Painters of All Schools, London, 1877, p. 423.
L. Stephen, ed., Dictionary of National Biography, vol. 1, New York and London, 1885, p. 298, as 'Knox Admonishing Mary Queen of Scots'.
R. Brydall, Art in Scotland: Its Origin and Progress, Edinburgh and London, 1889, p. 273, as 'John Knox admonishing Queen Mary'.
G.C. Williamson, Bryan's Dictionary of Painters and Engravers, vol. 1, London, 1903, p. 20.
E. Pinnington, The Makers of British Art: Sir Henry Raeburn R. A., London and New York, 1904, p. 42, as 'John Knox admonishing Queen Mary.'
H.T. Skae, Mary Queen of Scots, Edinburgh, November 1912, p. 31, as 'Queen Mary's First Meeting With Knox'.
F. Rinder, The Royal Scottish Academy 1826-1916, Glasgow, 1917, p. 13.
V. Jacob, The Lairds of Dun, London, 1931, p. 94, illustrated with the engraving, as 'Mary Stuart, John Knox, and John Erskin'.
D. & F. Irwin, Scottish Painters at Home and Abroad 1700-1900, London, 1975, p. 211.
L. Errington, Tribute to Wilkie, Trustees of the National Galleries of Scotland, 1985, p. 74.
D. Macmillan, Painting in Scotland: The Golden Age, Oxford, 1986, p. 179, erroneously catalogued as exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1821.
D. Macmillan, Scottish Art, 1460-1990, Edinburgh, 1990, p. 187, as 'John Knox Admonishing Queen Mary'.
K. Robbins, Great Britain: Identities, Institutions and the Idea of Britishness Since 1500, New York, 1998, p. 58, ill. 3.1, illustrated with the engraving.
J. Howard, William Allan: Artist Adventurer, Edinburgh, 2001, pp. 16-17, 78.
J. Morrison, Painting the Nation: Identity and Nationalism in Scottish Painting, 1800-1920, Edinburgh, 2003, p. 115, erroneously catalogued as plate 5.2 which illustrates the smaller version from 1822.

London, Royal Academy, 1823, no. 34.
Edinburgh, Institution for the Encouragement of the Fine Arts in Scotland, Fifth Exhibition of Modern Pictures, 13 February 1826, no. 37.
Edinburgh, Hill's Galleries, 67 Princes Street, Exhibition of the Historical and Other Works of the late Sir William Allan RA, 1851, no. 6.
Edinburgh, Royal Scottish Academy, 1918, no. 210, as 'John Knox and Queen Mary', lent by Miss Carfrae.
Edinburgh, Scottish National Portrait Gallery, The Queens Image, 9 July-4 October 1987, no. 43.

This lot has been imported from outside of the UK for sale and placed under the Temporary Admission regime. Import VAT is payable at 5% on the hammer price. VAT at 20% will be added to the buyer’s premium but will not be shown separately on our invoice.
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Lot Essay

The present lot depicts John Knox (1514-1572), the renowned Scottish reformer, and Mary Queen of Scots (1542-1587), who reigned from 1542-1567. The painting illustrates a pivotal moment in Scottish History, as John Knox admonishes Mary Queen of Scots on the day on which her betrothal to Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley (1546-1567), was announced. Lord Darnley had claim to both the Scottish and English thrones and through marriage he secured his position as King Consort of Scotland. However, the marriage was not a happy one and the present lot depicts the precursory moment when Knox encourages the young Queen not to marry Darnley. The decision to ignore Knox’s warnings was a choice which Mary lived to regret as, shortly after the marriage in 1565, Darnley’s vanity and streak of violence was revealed. Two years later, their marriage came to an abrupt end – an ending shrouded in rumour and scrutinisation. Shortly after the birth of their son, Lord Darnley was murdered at Kirk o’Field and in a full circle of reprimand, Knox denounced Mary Queen of Scots, accusing her of involvement.
The present work was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1823. The painting was one of controversy, creating a stark divide between critics. Southern critics criticised Allan for depicting Mary as a non-traditional beauty: ‘The London papers criticised Allan for not having painted the Queen ‘according to the rules derived from the Grecian models’.’ (Irwin, Scottish Painters at Home and Abroad, London, 1975, p. 211). However, Scottish critics applauded Allan for his innovative and modern depiction of Knox, which rejected David Hume’s (1711-1776) damming interpretation: ‘In [John Knox’s] appearance, therefore, we discover no traces of that surly brutality falsely ascribed to him by Hume […] He is a man of his age, - the intrepid and fearless Reformer – the heroic and undaunted preacher of righteousness – the honest expounder of the oracles of God’ (The Edinburgh Magazine and Literary Miscellany, The Scots Magazine, September 1823).
The late 18^thcentury and early 19^thcentury saw a resurgence in Scottish pride and a romanticisation, promoted by the popular writings of Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) and Robert Burns (1759-1796). William Allan, in a similar vein, stood to revive Scottish pride, and the present lot was the first of a series of Scottish historical paintings. The romanticism of the Scottish landscape and its history stands in stark contrast to the rise of Naturalism in the latter half of the century, which focused on class disparity and the effects of industrialisation.
Born in Edinburgh in 1782, William Allan began his artistic journey as an apprentice to a coach painter. He later went onto study at the Trustees' Academy, Edinburgh, where he studied alongside David Wilkie (1785-1841) and John Burnet (1784-1868). Allan went onto have a rich career, travelling to London, St Petersburg, Turkey and Spain. He was elected Royal Academician in 1835 and three years later he was appointed President of the Scottish Academy. Then in 1841, he succeeded Wilkie as Her Majesty’s Limner for Scotland and was knighted that same year. Allan had a passion for the promotion of Scottish art, artists and history subjects and held the title of Master of the Trustees' School of Design in Edinburgh from 1826 until a few years before his death.