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- Publisher
- Edinburgh University Press
- Copyright
- © Edinburgh University Press
- ISSN
- 1350-7524
- eISSN
- 1755-1641
- DOI
- 10.3366/arch.2007.18.1.73
- Publisher site
- See Article on Publisher Site
Abstract
Alexander Seton's inscription about his building at Pinkie serving ‘the decent pleasures of heart and mind’ is of a piece with the emblems and inscriptions painted in its long gallery. These are referred to in a letter of 1619 from Ben Jonson to Drummond of Hawthornden. Drummond's reply records the emblems embroidered on Mary Queen of Scots' Bed of State, which were also recorded in 1603 by his uncle, William Fowler, who had served as an agent for Francis Walsingham whilst Giordano Bruno was in London. Bruno's reference to Henri III's Manet ultima coelo device shows that it had been drawn into humanist efforts to advocate politique alliances that would overcome religious differences. These values are shown to be wholly relevant to the emblematic devices that are characteristic of both Mary's and Seton's decorative schemes and, indeed to the architectural values which are proclaimed by Seton's inscription at Pinkie.
Journal
Architectural Heritage – Edinburgh University Press
Published: Nov 1, 2007