Global frame for photo of cardinal's home

Published on Tuesday 10 June 2008 10:22

A PHOTO dating back to the 1850s which depicts the former home of an Edinburgh cardinal has gone on a tour of some of the world's leading galleries.

Cardinal Beaton's House, by Thomas Keith, which shows a now demolished building at the foot of Blackfriars Street, is currently being shown at the Muse d'Orsay in Paris, having already toured to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and then the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC.

The picture appeared in an album containing works by the likes of David Octavius Hill, Robert Adamson and Archibald Burns, which was donated to the Royal Scottish Academy in 1931.

The album is currently on display at the exhibition Impressed by Light: British Photographs from Paper Negatives, 1840-1860.

A large number of the works on show had never been seen in the US before.

The RSA's album featured prominently in each venue, taking pride of place in the gallery space, surrounded by prominent works from the likes of William Henry Fox Talbot, John Muir Wood, Thomas Sutton and Horatio Ross.

Cardinal Beaton's house stood on what was formerly known as Blackfriars Wynd. The street, which is now Blackfriars Street, runs from the Royal Mile to the Cowgate.