We’re very much looking forward to visiting the National Galleries of Scotland’s exhibition on James VI & I at the Portrait Gallery opening in late April. And we’re here to give you a wee preview not only of the exhibition, but of the excellent book that accompanies it.

Art & Court of James VI & I
By Kate Anderson, with Catriona Murray, Jemma Field, Anna Groundwater, Karen Hearn and Liz Louis
Published by National Galleries Scotland

History has not been kind to james vi of Scotland and I of England and Ireland. For many, he has fallen between the cracks of the reigns of his mother, Mary, Queen of Scots, and his son Charles I, overshadowed by their contentious and heavily romanticised legacies. Both James’s reign and character were heavily criticised in the seventeenth century by writers, notably Sir Anthony Weldon. Published posthumously in 1650, the pejorative account of James’s physical appearance claimed that the king’s tongue was too big for his mouth, that he possessed weak legs and constantly fidgeted with his codpiece.1 Weldon was a former English courtier who had been dismissed from his position, and the memoir was anti-Scottish in sentiment and full of scandal and unfounded rumour. However, its legacy continued to impact on subsequent histories of the king for centuries. While recent scholarship has revised some of these inaccuracies and prejudices, misconceptions about James and his reign still exist. One of the aims of this book, and the exhibition it accompanies, is to reframe James and consider his life and reign in a wider context; they also seek to explore the extraordinary art, objects and culture that were produced during this period, and demonstrate how James, his family and members of the court used them to promote messages of status, power and allegiance.

This is not a detailed biography of James. His reign and character are incredibly complex, and while the narrative here is multi-layered, it does not set out to comprehensively examine the historical context of Scotland, England and Europe during this time. Instead, an object-based approach has been taken, with the visual and material culture of the Jacobean period being placed at the centre of this study, alongside an overview of some of the key individuals and events that shaped the king. In an attempt to address the imbalance of scholarly attention that the Scottish and English courts have received over the years, a concerted effort has been made to highlight James’s Scottish period. However, it is too simplistic to directly compare the artistic quality and output of the two courts, as the political, religious and economic climate in Scotland during James’s early life had a major impact on the development of the country’s cultural productivity.

This book has been published to accompany the exhibition The World of King James VI and I. It is hoped, however, that the essays and catalogue will have a legacy beyond the exhibition. Many of the artworks and objects in the exhibition are published here for the first time.

Spread from Art & Court of James VI & I showing: Left: Unknown artist Double Portrait of Mary, Queen of Scots and James VI, 1580s Collection at Blair Castle, Perthshire Right: Unknown artist Mary, Queen of Scots (1542–1587), 1610–15, after an original of 1578 National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh (PG 1073)

Attributed to John de Critz the Elder (c.1550–1642) James VI & I, 1604 National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh (PG 561)

John de Critz the Elder or workshop of John de Critz the Elder (c.1550–1642) Anna of Denmark, c.1605 National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh (PG 3800)

Art & Court of James VI & I by Kate Anderson, with Catriona Murray, Jemma Field, Anna Groundwater, Karen Hearn and Liz Louis, is published by National Galleries Scotland, priced £24.99.