Tour of The Great Hall at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery

Liz Louis, Curator of Portraiture introduces the Great Hall of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. Liz gives us a tour of the elaborate decorative interior and examines the glittering frieze and mural decorations by William Brassey Hole. The Great Hall is a work of art in itself, and Liz explains how the decorative scheme relates to both the outside of the building, and the contents that it was purpose built to house. The building opened to the public in 1889 as the world’s first purpose-built portrait gallery, although it was not until its extensive refurbishment in 2009-2011 that the Scottish National Portrait Gallery’s collection occupied the entire building for the first time. Here, we look at how some of the key episodes of Scottish History were represented, and the individuals that shaped it.