Edwin Landseer

Sir Edwin Landseer RA was the foremost animal painter of his day and Queen Victoria s favourite, who became well-known to the public for the portrait of a majestic stag, The Monarch of the Glen, and the bronze lions at the foot of Nelson s Column in Trafalgar Square. But another more private side to Landseer s creative genius which deserves greater recognition is revealed in his off-duty drawings in pen and wash, sketched when he stayed in the homes of his aristocratic patrons, or as a member of their group of family and friends on extended holidays in the Highlands of Scotland, where he took part in their pastimes and sporting activities."