View of the Town of Stirling on the River Forth

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.