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Ensure you have the group register and emergency contact numbers for all leaders and students
Wear yellow shirt for easy identification
Charge your phone fully and bring a power bank
Review the risk assessment for the day’s route and activities
Once you arrive, walk into the main hall and admire the ceiling and decorated walls (more information below)
14:00 Meet your CES group, teacher, and activity leader; head count
14:10 Take Lothian Bus #23 or 27
14:30 Arrive at the Scottish National Gallery. Give brief introduction. Walk up to the upper balcony, where there is an open space. Explain the rules of the scavenger hunt. Make sure to explain the layout of the gallery.
14:40 Free time for exploration and activity
16:15 Regroup and head count
16:30 Release to host families
Level 2- Scottish figures and revolutions
Level 2- Scottish figures and revolutions
On level 2, there are some more historic paintings depicting important figures from the Victorian age. A lot of Scottish history is covered here, from the Jacobite revolution to Reformation.
Outside the Gallery
Outside the Gallery
Edinburgh’s New Town is often regarded as a masterpiece of Georgian town planning, however, towering in defiance at the east end of Queen Street is a magnificent red sandstone neo-gothic building that stands out amongst the grey sandstone Georgian homes. The building is home to the Scottish National Portrait Gallery which opened to the public in 1889 as the world’s first purpose-built portrait gallery. With many visitors flooding to the Scottish National Gallery on Princes Street, I often feel the Scottish National Portrait Gallery is overlooked which is a shame as it is a wonderful place to spend an afternoon and houses one of my favourite hidden gems in Edinburgh.
The gallery was designed as a shrine for Scotland’s heroes and heroines so as you approach the building, you’ll notice that the outside is adorned with thirty-one figures from Scottish history with William Wallace and Robert the Bruce guarding the entrance.
Main Hall
Main Hall
As you enter, the Great Hall lies straight ahead of you and is a work of art in itself.
Where several artists contributed to the exterior of the building, William Hole was selected to work on the Great Hall with the task of creating a beautiful space that would also inspire visitors to learn about Scotland’s vibrant history.
A magnificent frieze adorns the first-floor balustrade which was designed as a visual encyclopedia and features a procession of key figures in Scottish history such as David Livingstone, Adam Smith, Mary Queen of Scots, and Robert Burns
They march around the hall in reverse chronological order, from the nineteenth century through to Stone Age man. It includes royalty, military, religious and political figures as well as explorers, inventors, poets and artists all from Scotland’s past. The procession starts with the author and historian Thomas Carlyle, who played a significant role in the establishment of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, and the National Portrait Gallery in London.
Look up! There is a night sky painted on the ceiling of the hall. You can find over 2,000 constellations and is a representation of the night sky in the northern hemisphere
Level 1- Modern Portraits
Level 1- Modern Portraits
Find other familiar faces when you discover contemporary portraits of pop culture icons like Billy Connolly, Emeli Sandé and Tilda Swinton in the galleries above. You will spot recent pioneers in science, sport and the arts and sit alongside famous historical figures such as Mary Queen of Scots, Robert Burns and Charles Edward Stuart.
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