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6 artworks
  • The Giant and the Cobbler

    From the Shropshire folktale of the creation of The Wrekin, a prominent hill near Wellington – a Welsh giant about to dam the River Severn to punish the people of Shrewsbury is tricked by a clever cobbler.

    The Giant and the Cobbler 1997
    Dez Quarréll (b.1955)
    Acrylic on canvas
    H 61 x W 50.8 cm
    Mythstories
    The Giant and the Cobbler
    © Dez Quarréll. Image credit: Mythstories

  • Blodeuwedd

    This is an allegorical painting of a story from the early medieval Welsh collection of stories and myths, 'The Mabinogion'. Blodeuwedd was the woman created of flowers, who was eventually punished for her transgressions by being changed into an owl.

    Blodeuwedd 1974
    Jeremy Roberts (b.1945)
    Acrylic on board
    H 30.3 x W 30.5 cm
    Carmarthenshire Museums Service Collection
    Blodeuwedd
    © the artist. Image credit: Carmarthenshire Museums Service Collection

  • New Mercat Cross

    Pillar topped with a bronze unicorn, with four bronze falcons in flight around the pillar – the lowest catching its prey. Circular bronze sundials are inset on each face of the lower part of the pillar. An accompanying plaque (with text in English and Gaelic) provides details of a website and an augmented reality app. to discover more about the legends of falcons and unicorns.

    New Mercat Cross 2003
    Gerald Laing (1936–2011) and Black Isle Bronze
    Clarsach stone & bronze
    H 1128 cm
    New Mercat Cross
    © the artist's estate / Bridgeman Images. Image credit: Dewi Owens / Art UK

  • Merlin and Arthur / Myrddin ac Arthur

    This bronze, exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1902, is John's only work on an Arthurian theme. According to medieval legend, the future King Arthur was committed to Merlin the magician's care.

    Merlin and Arthur / Myrddin ac Arthur 1902
    William Goscombe John (1860–1952)
    Bronze & wood
    H 61 x W 25 x D 25 cm
    Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales
    Merlin and Arthur / Myrddin ac Arthur
    Image credit: Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales

  • The Story of Ruth Pierce

    Ruth Pierce on 25th January 1753, together with two other women, agreed to buy a sack of corn in the market and for each to pay her share. One of the women who collected the quotas found a deficiency and on asking Ruth to make up the amount was told she had paid her full share and that she ‘wished she might drop dead if she had not’. She rashly repeated this awful wish, when, to the consternation of the persons standing by, she instantly fell down and expired, having the money concealed in her hand.

    The Story of Ruth Pierce 1955
    W. R. Newman (active 1947–1959)
    Wood
    H 48.5 x W 78 x D 5 cm
    Devizes Town Council
    The Story of Ruth Pierce
    © the copyright holder. Image credit: Devizes Town Council

  • Robert the Bruce Receiving the Wallace Sword before the Battle of Bannockburn from the Spirit of Scotland in the Guise of the Lady of the Lake with Stirling Castle in the Background

    Robert the Bruce Receiving the Wallace Sword before the Battle of Bannockburn from the Spirit of Scotland in the Guise of the Lady of the Lake with Stirling Castle in the Background 1943
    Stewart Carmichael (1867–1950)
    Oil on canvas
    H 127 x W 96.5 cm
    The Stirling Smith Art Gallery & Museum
    Robert the Bruce Receiving the Wallace Sword before the Battle of Bannockburn from the Spirit of Scotland in the Guise of the Lady of the Lake with Stirling Castle in the Background
    Image credit: The Stirling Smith Art Gallery & Museum