Interpretation
Following the establishment of the Free Church of Scotland after a contentious schism, the painter David Octavius Hill was commissioned to produce an ambitious large-scale commemorative painting. Determined to paint accurate portraits of the important men and women involved with the church, Hill partnered with the photographer Robert Adamson, who practiced the new paper-based photographic process announced by William Henry Fox Talbot in 1839. The numerous individual and group portraits Hill and Adamson created served as references for Hill’s monumental painting (now in the collection of the University of Glasgow), which took him twenty-three years to complete.
Information
- Title
- Dumbarton Presbytery
- Object Number
- x1982-300
- Maker
- Hill and Adamson
- Medium
- Salted paper print
- Dates
- March 29, 1845
- Dimensions
- 14.5 x 20.2 cm. (5 11/16 x 7 15/16 in.) mount: 36.1 x 27.5 cm. (14 3/16 x 10 13/16 in.)
- Credit Line
- Robert O. Dougan Collection, gift of Warner Communications, Inc.
- Culture
- British
Feedback
The Museum regularly researches its objects and their collecting histories, updating its records to reflect new information. We also strive to catalogue works of art using language that is consistent with how people, subjects, artists, and cultures describe themselves. As this effort is ongoing, the Museum’s records may be incomplete or contain terms that are no longer acceptable. We welcome your feedback, questions, and additional information that you feel may be useful to us. Email us at collectionsinfo@princeton.edu.
Want to use an image from the Museum's collections? Review our image use and access policies.