King's Gallery, Edinburgh

The King's Gallery, previously known as the Queen's Gallery, is an art gallery in Edinburgh, Scotland. It forms part of the Palace of Holyroodhouse complex. It was opened in 2002 by Queen Elizabeth II, and exhibits works from the Royal Collection. It is open to the public daily. The building is Category B listed.

1. History

The King's Gallery is housed primarily in a Gothic building that was originally built between 1846 and 1850 as Holyrood Free Church, a parish church of the Free Church of Scotland then, from 1900, of the United Free Church of Scotland). The church was last used for worship in 1915, when it became a redundant church. Prior to its conversion to a gallery, the church building was used as a storeroom. The Gallery also comprises the neo-Jacobean building that housed the former Free Church School, which was built at the same time as the church. The building of the church and the school was funded by Elizabeth Gordon, Duchess of Gordon, who was an early supporter of the Free Church. The former school was converted into accommodation for the palace's chauffeurs in the 1920s. In 2002, the buildings were converted to form what is now the King's Gallery under plans by Benjamin Tindall Architects. The gallery is primarily housed on the first floor in a large space with an open timber roof. In 2019, the former Scottish National Party MP George Kerevan claimed that, if Scotland gained Independence, the gallery building would be demolished to create an uninterrupted "Freedom square" between Holyrood Palace and the Scottish Parliament Building.

1. Exhibitions

The gallery houses temporary exhibitions throughout the year which are drawn from the Royal Collection. Past exhibitions have included:

2022 – Masterpieces from Buckingham Palace, including paintings by Sir Anthony van Dyck, Rembrandt and Peter Paul Rubens. 2021 – Watercolour paintings from the personal collections of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. 2019/2020 – Drawings by Leonardo da Vinci. The exhibition was the largest collection of works by Leonardo assembled in Scotland to date. 2019 – Russian art, including photographs, objects and paintings.

1. See also

King's Gallery at Buckingham Palace

1. References


1. External links

The Royal Collection: The King's Gallery, Palace of Holyroodhouse

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Scottish Parliament

The Scottish Parliament (Scottish Gaelic: Pàrlamaid na h-Alba [ˈpʰaːrˠl̪ˠəmɪtʲ nə ˈhal̪ˠapə]; Scots: Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. It is located in the Holyrood area of Edinburgh, and is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyrood. It is a democratically elected body and its role is to scrutinise the Scottish Government and legislate on devolved matters that are not reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Scottish Parliament comprises 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs), elected for five-year terms under the regionalised form of Additional-member system (MMP): 73 MSPs represent individual geographical constituencies elected by the plurality (first-past-the-post) system, while a further 56 are returned as list members from eight additional member regions. Each region elects seven party-list MSPs. Each region elects 15 to 17 MSPs in total. The most recent general election to the Parliament was held on 6 May 2021, with the Scottish National Party winning a plurality. The original Parliament of Scotland was the national legislature of the independent Kingdom of Scotland and existed from the early 13th century until the Kingdom of Scotland merged with the Kingdom of England under the Acts of Union 1707 to form the Kingdom of Great Britain. As a consequence, the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of England were subsumed into the Parliament of Great Britain. In practice, all of the traditions, procedures, and standing orders of the English parliament were retained, with the addition of Scottish members in both the Commons and Lords. Following a referendum in 1997, in which the Scottish electorate voted for devolution, the powers of the devolved legislature were specified by the Scotland Act 1998. The Act delineates the legislative competence of the Parliament – the areas in which it can make laws – by explicitly specifying powers that are "reserved" to the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Scottish Parliament has the power to legislate in all areas that are not explicitly reserved to Westminster. The UK Parliament retains the ability to amend the terms of reference of the Scottish Parliament, and can extend or reduce the areas in which it can make laws. The first meeting of the reconvened Parliament took place on 12 May 1999. The legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament has been amended numerous times since then. The Scotland Act 2012 and Scotland Act 2016 expanded the Parliament's powers, especially over taxation and welfare. The purpose of the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020, the most recent amendment, is to constrain the powers of the devolved institutions and restrict the exercise of devolved competences. Its effect is to undermine the freedom of action, regulatory competence and authority of the Parliament, limiting its ability to make different economic or social choices to those made by Westminster.

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Scottish Parliament Building

The Scottish Parliament Building is the home of the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood in central Edinburgh. Construction of the building commenced in June 1999 and the Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) held their first debate in the new building on 7 September 2004. The formal opening by Queen Elizabeth II took place on 9 October 2004. Enric Miralles, the Spanish architect who designed the building, died before its completion. From 1999 until the opening of the new building in 2004, committee rooms and the debating chamber of the Scottish Parliament were housed in the General Assembly Hall of the Church of Scotland located on The Mound in Edinburgh. Office and administrative accommodation in support of the Parliament were provided in buildings leased from the City of Edinburgh Council. The new Scottish Parliament Building brought together these different elements into one purpose-built parliamentary complex, housing 129 MSPs and more than 1,000 staff and civil servants. From the outset, the building and its construction have been controversial. The choices of location, architect, design and construction company were all criticised by politicians, the media and the Scottish public. Scheduled to open in 2001, it did so in 2004, more than three years late with an estimated final cost of £414 million, many times higher than initial estimates of between £10m and £40m. A major public inquiry into the handling of the construction, chaired by the former Lord Advocate, Lord Fraser of Carmyllie, was established in 2003. The inquiry concluded in September 2004, and criticised the management of the whole project from the realisation of cost increases, down to the way in which major design changes were implemented. The original lintel from Parliament House which housed the Parliament of Scotland until 1707 was installed above the debating chamber in the new parliament building. Despite these criticisms and a mixed public reaction, the building was welcomed by architectural academics and critics. The building aimed to achieve a poetic union between the Scottish landscape, its people, its culture and the city of Edinburgh. The Parliament Building won numerous awards including the 2005 Stirling Prize and has been described by landscape architect Charles Jencks as "a tour de force of arts and crafts and quality without parallel in the last 100 years of British architecture".

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Holyrood Palace

The Palace of Holyroodhouse ( or ), also known as Holyrood Palace, is the official residence of the monarch of the United Kingdom in Scotland. Located at the bottom of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, at the opposite end to Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood has served as the principal royal residence in Scotland since the 16th century, and is a setting for state occasions and official entertaining. The palace adjoins Holyrood Abbey, and the gardens are set within Holyrood Park. The King's Gallery was converted from existing buildings at the western entrance to the palace and was opened in 2002 to exhibit works of art from the Royal Collection. King Charles III spends one week in residence at Holyrood at the beginning of summer, where he carries out a range of official engagements and ceremonies. The 16th-century historic apartments of Mary, Queen of Scots, and the State Apartments, used for official and state entertaining, are open to the public throughout the year, except when members of the royal family are in residence. The palace also serves as the official residence of the Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland during the annual meeting of the General Assembly.

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White Horse Close

White Horse Close, or "Whitehorse Close", is an enclosed courtyard off the Canongate at the foot of the Royal Mile at the eastern end of the Old Town of Edinburgh, Scotland.

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