A new temporary mini-exhibition at the National Galleries of Scotland in Edinburgh is focusing on the sketches of a Dunfermline artist.

The new exhibition, titled Joseph Noël Paton - Drawing Shakespeare, displays sketches by Paton for one of his earliest book commissions, Compositions from Shakespeare’s Tempest (1845) and preliminary sketches of his painting, The Quarrel of Oberon and Titania.

The Quarrel is based on a scene from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and is in the same room as the new exhibition, so visitors can see how the painting began, and the finished artwork.

Dunfermline Press: The Quarrel of Oberon and Titania is on display in the same room as the exhibition.The Quarrel of Oberon and Titania is on display in the same room as the exhibition. (Image: Alexandra Baff)

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As previously reported in the Press, Sir Joseph Noël Paton was a member of the Paton family from Wooers’ Alley in Dunfermline. Three of the siblings, Joseph Noël, Amelia Robertson Hill, and Waller Hugh Paton, all went on to become well-respected artists.

An explanation board in the gallery states: “Paton’s pictures are richly detailed and were carefully planned through a series of exploratory or ‘preparatory’ drawings. This helped him to develop the composition – or layout – of his designs, as well as the positions and emotions expressed by the figures and to decide which narrative details to include.”

Dunfermline Press: One of Paton's sketches on display.One of Paton's sketches on display. (Image: Alexandra Baff)

The exhibition opened earlier this month and will be on display until Sunday, May 26 at The National, run by The National Galleries of Scotland, on The Mound.