View of the Town of Stirling on the River Forth

Alexander Nasmyth (1758 - 1840)

Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum

circa 1820

This beautifully painted view, with its impressive great expanse of sky, shows Clackmannan Castle in the middle distance, and Alloa, already showing signs of rapid growth as a consequence of industrial development, as emphasised by the extent of the shipping on the Forth. Below the dramatic peaks of Ben Lomond and Ben Ledi is Stirling Castle, whose strategic position on the precipitous rock at the narrowing of the Forth Valley has ensured its importance since the twelfth century. Nasmyth was a passionate enthusiast for neo classical ideas. A close friend of Robert Burns and a contemporary of Sir Walter Scott, he sought to express and combine both the Italianate idea of classical beauty and the 'natural' romanticism of the Scottish countryside.

• Medium: oil on canvas
• Dimensions: 81 x 115 cm
• Art Fund Grant: £6500 ( Total: £27,000)
• ArtFunded in: 1986
• Vendor: Richard Green

Provenance

Phillips 12/3/1985, lot 61. Richard Green.

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