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Garlic & Pearls
The Monarch of the Glen: The Surprisingly Passionate Tale of Landseer's Emblematic Masterpiece
Season 1, Ep. 96
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An imposing stag stands in a dramatic landscape, in a famous painting hanging in pride of place in the National Scottish Gallery. But what are we really looking at, asks Suzanne. An accomplished oil painting by a Victorian master? A great icon for Scotland? Is is the painting a case of cultural appropriation and the encapsulation of 'Balmorality'? Does it matter if Landseer lost his head to the romance of Scotland? And who was he, and why did he paint the famous stag? It's a rollicking tale of tormented artistic temperament and the peregrinations of a painting, featuring the early days of marketing and mass reproduction, a very French case of cherchez la femme, a delicious recipe for potatoes and the foreshadowing of action painting – with tea.
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