A dramatic painting, showing the horrors of the battlefield on 16th April 1746, is back on public display for the first time in decades, following months of specialist conservation work.
Battle of Culloden by Peel Ross, oil on canvas. Copyright Inverness Museum and Art Gallery, photo by Ewen Weatherspoon.
Painted by Peel Ross in the late 19th or early 20th century, he mounted the canvas on kitchen linoleum. This was a very unusual choice of backing material but presumably the only thing he had that was large enough to support a canvas almost 2.5 meters (over 7 feet) wide! But a century later, the lino had started to degrade and bubble, putting every brushstroke at risk.
Thanks to generous grants from the Inverness Common Good Fund and the AIM Pilgrim Trust Remedial Conservation Scheme, the painting was saved. It was conserved by Egan, Matthews & Rose, who are fine art conservators in Dundee, who also have experience of working with linoleum. After a few months of pain-staking work, the painting was freed from its lino support, cleaned, re-mounted and given a nice new frame.
The Battle of Culloden can be seen in the Jacobite gallery on the first-floor. Its homecoming inspired a redisplay of the Jacobite collections, which is currently ongoing (the gallery remains open to visitors). A few more items have also been brought out of store, including a painting of Dr Archibald Cameron of Lochiel and a gold pocketwatch that belonged to Flora MacDonald.
Reference
INVMG.0000.0160 Donated by Mrs Peel Ross.
