WORDS by Ronnie Kerr

A DUNFERMLINE-BORN artist who found fame as Queen Victoria's go-to painter will have his work displayed at the resting place of kings.

Rarely-seen drawings by Sir Joseph Noel Paton, which were templates for a stained glass window in Dunfermline Abbey, will soon be appreciated by a whole new audience.

Nine biblically-themed works by Queen Victoria’s Royal Limner – the art equivalent of Poet Laureate – are to be restored for an upcoming exhibition that will mark Paton’s 200th birthday.

His drawings of the Last Supper and the Resurrection were transformed into scenes that adorn the McLaren window of the Abbey, where eight Kings and four Queens are buried.

Conservators will clean, repair and frame the drawings – each two-and-a-half metres high and 70 centimetres wide – in preparation for the show, which opens at OnFife's Dunfermline Carnegie Library & Galleries in 2023.

It will be the first major exhibition dedicated to one of the Victorian era’s leading artists, who enjoyed vast popularity during his lifetime.

Barriers were often needed to keep crowds in check when the Dunfermline-born artist’s work went on show.

An obituary in the New York Times described Paton as Queen Victoria's favourite artist, and the monarch is reported as saying that Paton painted "such beautiful pictures".

Among them is 'In Memoriam', a tender portrait of the Queen and her family, following the death of Prince Albert.

Paton’s 200th birthday is on December 13 but COVID-19 has delayed the exhibition, which will showcase the drawings – known as ‘cartoons’ – for the first time.

The McLaren window, completed in 1904 – three years after Paton’s death – was his final commission.

The cartoons are part of a series of 12 but the whereabouts of the other three is unknown.

Specialists at the Scottish Conservation Studio at Hopetoun House have completed work on five of the drawings. Funding is now being sought to conserve the other four.

The drawings are in the care of OnFife and, from next month, two of the drawings can be seen by appointment at OnFife’s Collections Centre in Glenrothes.

Paintings and drawings inspired by biblical scenes, classical mythology and Scottish folklore will feature in the 2023 exhibition.

It’s a chance to admire Paton’s naturalistic style, which was influenced greatly by his friend, John Everett Millais, the pre-Raphaelite painter.

Also included in the show will be diaries, personal objects and correspondence, including letters sent to Paton by Millais and Queen Victoria’s Private Secretary, General Charles Grey.

Gavin Grant, OnFife’s collections team leader said: “We’re delighted with the progress that’s been made.

"When we eventually see all nine drawings together for the first time, in Noel Paton’s home town, it will be a magnificent sight.”

Exhibition curator Lesley Lettice added: “This retrospective will provide a unique insight into Noel Paton as an artist and as a man, bringing together paintings from museums across Scotland and private loans from family members, including photographs and drawings.”

Work on three of the drawings was supported by a grant from the Gordon Fraser Charitable Trust’s Paper Conservation Fund.