Mary, Queen of Scots
Not on view
Kay sometimes made etchings of important historical figures, as well as portraying his Edinburgh contemporaries. Here he based a half-length image of Scotland's most famous queen on an engraving by George Vertue, the latter in turn relying on a sixteenth-century painting by Nicholas Hillard. Mary Stuart is shown half-length within an oval, wearing a dark gown with a ruff, gauzy cape, gable headdress, and a cross hanging at her front. The print was used to illustrate a later edition of William Robertson's "The History of Scotland during the reign of Queen Mary and King James VI till his accession to the Crown of England" (first published 1759); see 17.3.756-1112 for another impression and 58.549.167 for a variant.
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