iNational War MuseumOld Town
The Art of Commemoration
The making of the Scottish National War Memorial, 1917-1927, through architectural drawings, artworks and archives, including cast iron angels by Alice Meredith Williams.
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Preview: written before the show opened
The casket at the heart of the Scottish National War Memorial, a gift from King George V and Queen Mary, holds the names of every Scot killed in the First World War. Angels carrying shields, designed by Alice Meredith Williams, decorate it. Here you can stand in front of the cast iron sample pieces of those angels, and the real casket is in the same castle.
The Memorial took ten years to plan, fundraise and build, from the first discussions in 1917 to its opening by the Prince of Wales on 14 July 1927. This display follows that decade through original architectural drawings, artworks, archives and objects, and looks at the women artists who worked on it. Film of the people who work in the Memorial today brings it up to the present.
It opens on 5 December, ahead of the Memorial's centenary in July 2027, and runs until January 2029. Entry to the museum and the display is free, but you need an Edinburgh Castle ticket to get in.
Editor's pick
Alice Meredith Williams's cast iron sample angels are here; the casket they decorate, holding the names of Scotland's First World War dead, is a short walk away in the Memorial. Drawings and archives trace its ten-year making.
Look for
Alice Meredith Williams's cast iron angels
Look for the sample pieces of angels carrying shields, the design that decorates the casket holding the names of Scotland's First World War dead.
The Memorial today, on film
Footage in which the people who work inside the Memorial now talk about the place and what it means to them.
Good for
- Nerding Out
- Out-Of-Town Guests
Also at National War Museum
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Image credits
9
- The Art of CommemorationNeil Hanna / National Museums Scotland
- Colours of the Past: A Creative Writing ExhibitionCourtesy of The Writers' Museum
- Elizabeth Blackadder: A Life in ColourCourtesy of Dovecot Studios
- Blood and Guts: The Twists and Turns of Edinburgh's Medical HistorySurgeons' Hall Museums
- National War MuseumStefan Schäfer, Lich / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Camera Obscura & World of IllusionsInterestingfax, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- National Galleries Scotland: NationalM J Richardson / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
- The Writers' MuseumStefan Schäfer, Lich (Wikimedia Commons), CC BY-SA 3.0
- The Georgian HouseStephencdickson / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0