The delicate stone tracery of the Victorian gothic town house provides a fine setting for an interesting and eclectic collection, mostly portraits, spanning local notable figures and others with wider connections to the history of Scotland and beyond. Images of the long line of Inverness Provosts dominate. Looking purely at artistic merit, several portraits deserve mention. Sir John Barnard, Lord Mayor of London may have only a slight connection with Inverness but his portrait by Allan Ramsay is a fine addition to the collection. 'Sir John Mackintosh' by Raeburn is a typical example of this artist’s use of subtle tones and broad, direct brushwork. The sheer scale of the 'Allegorical Triumph with Queen Anne' is impressive. She was the last member of the Stuart royal family to hold the throne and it was under her rule that the Act of Union was passed in 1707. Her feet rest on symbols of war and the triumph referred to is probably the ending of the long war against France which dominated her reign. The surprise of the collection is the Italian mid-sixteenth-century ‘The Holy Family with Saint John the Baptist’. Bequeathed to Inverness Academy in 1800 by a local art lover who later settled in Naples, it served as the focal point of many an art class until its present relocation.

Inverness Town House
High Street, Inverness, Highland IV1 1JJ Scotland
01463 237114
https://www.highland.gov.uk/directory_record/1236044/the_town_house_inverness/category/521/council_officesPlease remember to double-check the opening hours with the venue concerned before making a special visit
Inverness Town House is part of
Highland Council
Highland Council artworks can also be found at these venues
More information-
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Dornoch Council Chamber
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Dornoch Library (High Life Highland)
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Fortrose Academy
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Helmsdale Primary School
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High Life Highland Exhibitions Unit
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Highland Council Headquarters
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Highland Folk Museum (High Life Highland)
Newtonmore
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Inverness Library (High Life Highland)
Inverness
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Inverness Town House
Inverness
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Nairn Court House
Nairn
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Tain Royal Academy
Tain
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Ullapool High School
Ullapool
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Wick Town Hall
Wick