The World of King James VI and I exhibtion opening at the National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh
This special, one-off exhibition will chart the remarkable reign of King James VI and I, marking the 400-year anniversary of his death. Explore over 140 rare objects, many displayed together for the first time.
Clara Weale has created a New scent that whiffs of a ‘misunderstood’ Scottish king launches new exhibition of monarch, the scent has been name 'Prescence'
Members of the public can get a chance to smell the scent at this new exhibtion from 26 April until 14 September 2025, uncover more about this often-misunderstood monarch through ornate paintings, dazzling jewels, lavish textiles, and rare book and manuscripts, alongside some of the most iconic historical
portraits from Scotland’s national collection.
This will be the first time in 50 years
that an exhibition dedicated to King James VI and I will be held in Edinburgh
and it will be the only opportunity to see The
World of King James VI and I
anywhere in the world. The exhibition will also feature several important loans from a range of galleries and private collections from across the UK, including National Museums Scotland, The Royal Collection Trust, the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Fashion
Museum Bath. This will include a variety of books, prints, clothing, jewellery, and objects, creating an immersive journey through King James’s world.
Discover tales of friendship, family, feuds and ambition
and dive deeper into the life of King James through key moments in his reign including his early childhood, the infamous Scottish witch trials, the Union of the Crowns, the treasonous Gunpowder
Plot and early colonial ventures overseas. This exhibition will not only bring King James’s story to life, but it will transport visitors into the world in which he lived
and ruled, celebrating craft, visual arts, literature and performance from the 16th and 17th centuries.
The World of King
James VI and I will offer new perspectives
on the King’s life by drawing on themes of contemporary relevance including national identity, queer histories and spirituality and belief. Meet some of the most famous faces of the period through key artworks from Scotland’s national collection. Uncover more
about his family ties and his closest confidants, and see striking portraits of Mary, Queen of Scots, his wife and Queen Consort, Anna of Denmark, and his father, Henry, Lord Darnley. Accompany James as he grows from an orphaned boy king to
established ruler of nations through a range of portraits and objects which document his life, loves and achievements.
This special, one-off exhibition will chart the remarkable reign of King James VI and I, marking the 400-year anniversary of his death. Explore over 140 rare objects, many displayed together for the first time.
Clara Weale has created a New scent that whiffs of a ‘misunderstood’ Scottish king launches new exhibition of monarch, the scent has been name 'Prescence'
Members of the public can get a chance to smell the scent at this new exhibtion from 26 April until 14 September 2025, uncover more about this often-misunderstood monarch through ornate paintings, dazzling jewels, lavish textiles, and rare book and manuscripts, alongside some of the most iconic historical
portraits from Scotland’s national collection.
This will be the first time in 50 years
that an exhibition dedicated to King James VI and I will be held in Edinburgh
and it will be the only opportunity to see The
World of King James VI and I
anywhere in the world. The exhibition will also feature several important loans from a range of galleries and private collections from across the UK, including National Museums Scotland, The Royal Collection Trust, the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Fashion
Museum Bath. This will include a variety of books, prints, clothing, jewellery, and objects, creating an immersive journey through King James’s world.
Discover tales of friendship, family, feuds and ambition
and dive deeper into the life of King James through key moments in his reign including his early childhood, the infamous Scottish witch trials, the Union of the Crowns, the treasonous Gunpowder
Plot and early colonial ventures overseas. This exhibition will not only bring King James’s story to life, but it will transport visitors into the world in which he lived
and ruled, celebrating craft, visual arts, literature and performance from the 16th and 17th centuries.
The World of King
James VI and I will offer new perspectives
on the King’s life by drawing on themes of contemporary relevance including national identity, queer histories and spirituality and belief. Meet some of the most famous faces of the period through key artworks from Scotland’s national collection. Uncover more
about his family ties and his closest confidants, and see striking portraits of Mary, Queen of Scots, his wife and Queen Consort, Anna of Denmark, and his father, Henry, Lord Darnley. Accompany James as he grows from an orphaned boy king to
established ruler of nations through a range of portraits and objects which document his life, loves and achievements.
Category
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NewsTranscript
00:00I'm Alison Campsey, I'm the heritage writer for the Scotsman in Scotland on Sunday and I'm at the National Gallery of Scotland Portraits and I'm here with creator of scent, Clara Weal.
00:12Clara has created a new perfume for an exhibition opening at the gallery on April the 26th and that is the world of King James and First.
00:21And so Clara has created a perfume using old apothecary lists of ingredients which were written in the 17th century in a bid to recreate the perfume, the kind of thing that would have been smelt at the time.
00:37So Clara, hello, thank you very much for coming in. Can you just tell us a little bit about how you went about creating this perfume for this exhibition?
00:46Sure, so using this apothecary list from 1619 we could see that perfume was a really big deal in the royal court.
00:54Every element of their life was scented. I looked to resources from the time, contemporary accounts of what perfumers were using and using kind of some of those common and profound ingredients created a scent that might be befitting the court of King James.
01:08Lovely. So this scent you'll be able to smell when you come into the exhibition. So could you just give us an idea of a few key ingredients that's gone into this?
01:19Yeah, absolutely. So we've got lemon, clove, marjoram, lavender, rose, labdanum, civet, musk, oris. I mean, more was more at the time.
01:31More was more. Lovely. And this is the kind of smell that if you went into one of the royal palaces when the king was in attendance, this is the kind of smell that would be in the air. Is that right?
01:40That's right. You'd know you're in the presence of royalty with this smell.
01:43Wonderful. Well, I think we should have a smell.
01:45Would you like to smell it?
01:46I'd love to smell it.
01:52Okay, so you can just lift this box.
01:54And this is the box that will be in the exhibition.
01:55That's right. So visitors can come along, lift this for themselves.
01:58Oh, that's lovely. It's very deep. It's very earthy, but it's kind of botanical at the top as well.
02:11So you can imagine that smell would probably cover up or conceal a multitude of whiffs.
02:16I mean, that was an element of it too.
02:18Yeah, it's got this beautiful depth to it.
02:22And then this sort of light kind of fragrance over the top.
02:25Am I on the right track there?
02:26Oh, absolutely. You're on the right track there. You've got a good nose.
02:30It's really like woody down the bottom.
02:32Yeah, lots and lots of base notes in there. Lots of rich, expensive materials.
02:37Yeah, lovely. I'm just going to have one more.
02:40Yeah, that's gorgeous. Well done.
02:43So, yeah, I mean, come to the exhibition and smell that. It's absolutely incredible.
02:48And it's, you know, we were talking earlier about scent having such a powerful kind of effect
02:54on being able to take you to a place. And that really gives you a different level of experience.
03:01Yeah, being transported to the court of King James.
03:03I was transported to the court of King James. Thank you very much.
03:06Thank you very much.