The Skating Minister
The Reverend Robert Walker Skating on Duddingston Loch better known as The Skating Minister was painted by Henry Raeburn in the 1790s and is considered as an icon of Scottish culture. It one of the most frequently reproduced works of art, particularly in the UK.
I don't know why, but it always make me smile when I see it. Perhaps it is the serene expression on the minister's face juxtaposed with the faintly comic pose.
The background of the picture is bleak and uninviting but the minister is gracefully making it look very easy to glide across the slippery surface. The theme of this picture might be said to be emblematic of the Scottish Enlightenment in Edinburgh at the time: the triumph of reason.
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