Arcangelo Corelli, 1697

The portrait of the composer and violinist Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713) is one of the Italian treasurers of the Smith. Painted in Rome, it depicts the composer at the height of his powers. All later illustrations of Corelli were engraved from this work, which is by the Irish portrait painter Hugh Howard (1675-1737). Howard kept it in his London studio as his master work, to demonstrate his skills and attract other commissions.

The painting was gifted by Miss J. S. Donaldson, and although its earlier sale room history is known, how it came to Stirling is unclear. The gallery’s founder, Thomas Stuart Smith, who trained as an artist in Italy and decreed that the gallery should be built in the Italian style, would have been delighted with this work.

On 30 June 2009, a concert of the music of Corelli and his friends, presented by the Italian Cultural Institute, begins an Italy in Stirling season. Soprano Elena Bertuzzi was accompanied by Maestro Michele Benuzzi on harpsichord in a programme created for the Smith. The exhibition which followed was Men of Bannockburn by Italian heraldic and military artist Marco Trecalli, a magnificent tribute to the Scottish victory.