0:00:07 > 0:00:11Perhaps you already know the story of Scottish art -
0:00:11 > 0:00:13the one with all those
0:00:13 > 0:00:16bonny landscapes and Highland chieftains,
0:00:16 > 0:00:20where Scottish Colourists clamber across the Western Isles
0:00:20 > 0:00:22and a man named Charles Rennie Mackintosh
0:00:22 > 0:00:25re-imagines the rose.
0:00:25 > 0:00:31Perhaps you think that is the story of Scottish art, but think again.
0:00:31 > 0:00:34This is Scottish art. So is this.
0:00:34 > 0:00:40This, too, and this, and this, and this...
0:00:40 > 0:00:43It's never just been about this.
0:00:44 > 0:00:48Scotland's art is an epic thousands of years in the making.
0:00:48 > 0:00:54It's been carved and hewn from stone, spun from metal, cast in bronze.
0:00:54 > 0:00:58It's been drawn, stamped, painted and built.
0:00:58 > 0:01:01Scottish art has never just been
0:01:01 > 0:01:04a mirror in which Scots can see themselves.
0:01:04 > 0:01:09Instead, it has always revealed the power of art to explore,
0:01:09 > 0:01:12interrogate and celebrate, on behalf of us all,
0:01:12 > 0:01:14what it means to be alive.
0:01:19 > 0:01:22In this episode, we're travelling back thousands of years,
0:01:22 > 0:01:26to a time when Scotland wasn't even an idea,
0:01:26 > 0:01:28to a time when the work of the artists who lived here
0:01:28 > 0:01:31was subject to the demands of power.
0:01:31 > 0:01:35Power of religion, the power of politics,
0:01:35 > 0:01:38the power of priests and kings.
0:01:39 > 0:01:42It was an art that would adorn the walls of palaces
0:01:42 > 0:01:44such as this one,
0:01:44 > 0:01:48and would create an exquisite setting for the Scottish crown.
0:01:48 > 0:01:50It was an art that Scotland's Protestant reformers
0:01:50 > 0:01:53would seek to utterly destroy.
0:01:53 > 0:01:56Scotland's art lived dangerously.
0:01:56 > 0:01:57Come and see.
0:02:10 > 0:02:12THUNDER RUMBLES
0:02:21 > 0:02:23Come with me to one of the largest
0:02:23 > 0:02:27and oldest art galleries anywhere in the world.
0:02:29 > 0:02:32Under the sky, far to the west,
0:02:32 > 0:02:36there's a valley filled with ancient art.
0:02:36 > 0:02:37Kilmartin Glen...
0:02:39 > 0:02:42..where, about 5,000 years ago,
0:02:42 > 0:02:45the people of the Neolithic era made these.
0:02:48 > 0:02:52And sometimes, when you see the earliest human art,
0:02:52 > 0:02:54it seems so minimal
0:02:54 > 0:02:57that it doesn't have anything to do with humans at all.
0:02:58 > 0:03:02But don't doubt it - human hands made this.
0:03:02 > 0:03:04We made this.
0:03:04 > 0:03:06And when I see this, I get the feeling
0:03:06 > 0:03:08that they're like a pulse -
0:03:08 > 0:03:11the first pulse of a creative instinct
0:03:11 > 0:03:13in our cultural history.
0:03:16 > 0:03:19But what are they? What are they meant to mean?
0:03:19 > 0:03:22What are they meant to look like?
0:03:25 > 0:03:29Kilmartin Glen is full of questions and very few answers.
0:03:29 > 0:03:33All we know is that Neolithic people lived here
0:03:33 > 0:03:36from at least 5,000 years ago
0:03:36 > 0:03:38and in all kinds of different ways,
0:03:38 > 0:03:41they marked and claimed this landscape.
0:03:43 > 0:03:48What they created remains, to this day, strange...complex.
0:03:51 > 0:03:55Don't mistake this for a pile of old rubble.
0:03:55 > 0:03:56I mean, I'm no mystic,
0:03:56 > 0:04:01but these places really do provoke the most intense emotions.
0:04:05 > 0:04:08There's a mood in this glen. There's a feeling.
0:04:08 > 0:04:12You can feel the weight of the centuries bearing down on you.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17It's old - dear me, it's old.
0:04:17 > 0:04:20But all of this work...
0:04:21 > 0:04:22..is it art?
0:04:42 > 0:04:45There are stone circles all over Scotland.
0:04:45 > 0:04:50This one, the Ring of Brodgar, is on Orkney.
0:04:50 > 0:04:53It's been known for many years that these circles aligned themselves
0:04:53 > 0:04:56with astronomical turning points.
0:04:56 > 0:05:00They point to the moon or the sun on the longest or the shortest day.
0:05:01 > 0:05:03But are we really saying
0:05:03 > 0:05:05that these people would go to this much effort
0:05:05 > 0:05:07just to build a clock?
0:05:08 > 0:05:09Of course not.
0:05:10 > 0:05:12They're so much more than that.
0:05:12 > 0:05:15Neolithic man was really aesthetically aware.
0:05:15 > 0:05:19He wanted to make a visual impact
0:05:19 > 0:05:23and today, just as then, these stones around us,
0:05:23 > 0:05:28they kind of proffer a sculptural point of contact with the stars.
0:05:28 > 0:05:32They feel like they put us in context as humans -
0:05:32 > 0:05:36we're just small players on a vast stage.
0:05:36 > 0:05:41Is it a church? Perhaps they stood here and prayed to the sun.
0:05:41 > 0:05:45Or is it a parliament? Perhaps they came to see their king or queen.
0:05:46 > 0:05:50Or am I walking out of one of the largest works of art I've ever seen?
0:05:52 > 0:05:53To me, it feels like all three -
0:05:53 > 0:05:57a place of worship, reverence, wonder.
0:06:00 > 0:06:03I don't have to walk far from the Ring of Brodgar
0:06:03 > 0:06:06to find other sites - other stone circles,
0:06:06 > 0:06:08places where, for the last 30 years and more,
0:06:08 > 0:06:11archaeologists have been discovering evidence
0:06:11 > 0:06:17of buildings built and used by people who weren't primitive at all.
0:06:17 > 0:06:21This must have been a ceremonial centre for much -
0:06:21 > 0:06:23maybe all - of the Orkney islands.
0:06:23 > 0:06:27You have to transport yourself there in your imagination,
0:06:27 > 0:06:30and don't imagine it as empty - imagine it as full.
0:06:30 > 0:06:34Full of music, voices, fire and smoke.
0:06:38 > 0:06:43And if we enter the only structure that still has a roof, Maeshowe,
0:06:43 > 0:06:46and study the beautifully laid stone walls,
0:06:46 > 0:06:51we must wonder if they were always as bare as they now seem to be.
0:06:55 > 0:06:58'Archaeologist Hugo Anderson-Whymark
0:06:58 > 0:07:01'has been digging in these sites near the Ring of Brodgar
0:07:01 > 0:07:02'for the last four years
0:07:02 > 0:07:07'and he knows for sure that these stones were highly decorated.'
0:07:07 > 0:07:10What kind of stone are you working on?
0:07:10 > 0:07:13This is a local Orcadian sandstone,
0:07:13 > 0:07:15which comes in various different hardnesses.
0:07:15 > 0:07:16This one is quite soft
0:07:16 > 0:07:21and it's sort of ideal for cutting a design into.
0:07:21 > 0:07:23And these are the kind of stones that would have been used
0:07:23 > 0:07:26to build all the structures locally?
0:07:26 > 0:07:28Yeah - it splits into nice slabs
0:07:28 > 0:07:30and you can make nice, coarse buildings
0:07:30 > 0:07:33and they've been doing it for thousands of years.
0:07:33 > 0:07:36We find hundreds of carvings on the walls of the buildings,
0:07:36 > 0:07:38on the outsides of the buildings,
0:07:38 > 0:07:40in the passageways between the buildings.
0:07:40 > 0:07:42They're scratching them into the walls.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45As a kind of graffiti or as a conscious attempt to decorate?
0:07:45 > 0:07:47Well, some of them are very conscious designs
0:07:47 > 0:07:52and others are more, sort of, scratched, sort of, slight designs.
0:07:52 > 0:07:54But some of them are very deeply carved as well.
0:07:54 > 0:07:58But there's not a signature style or a kind of...you know, you think,
0:07:58 > 0:08:00"This might be the same person that did that hut."
0:08:00 > 0:08:02Well, we do see this butterfly,
0:08:02 > 0:08:05what's known as the Brodgar Butterfly motif,
0:08:05 > 0:08:08which is a design we find particularly on just this one site.
0:08:08 > 0:08:11- Ah...can you do us one? - Yes.
0:08:11 > 0:08:14We start with a cross.
0:08:14 > 0:08:17- Wonderful - like an early Saltire. - Yes.
0:08:17 > 0:08:20And so you've seen this particular design repeated loads round here?
0:08:20 > 0:08:23Hundreds of times on the Ness of Brodgar.
0:08:26 > 0:08:29It's not only butterflies and repeated geometric patterns
0:08:29 > 0:08:33that have been discovered here and at the Ness of Brodgar.
0:08:33 > 0:08:36The archaeologists have also found conclusive evidence
0:08:36 > 0:08:40that these stones, at least in part - possibly completely -
0:08:40 > 0:08:43were covered in pigments and paints.
0:08:44 > 0:08:46The iron ores that we now call hematites
0:08:46 > 0:08:50gave the Neolithic people of Orkney strong reds,
0:08:50 > 0:08:52lead ores gave them blues,
0:08:52 > 0:08:55and there were yellows, too, and blacks.
0:08:57 > 0:08:59I'm going to try and simulate what you're doing,
0:08:59 > 0:09:01but in the modern way.
0:09:01 > 0:09:04So I'm going to use some Indian red, which is...
0:09:04 > 0:09:06Oh, it's pretty almost there. Isn't that weird?
0:09:06 > 0:09:07But with two different stones,
0:09:07 > 0:09:08I can create a slightly...
0:09:08 > 0:09:10You can grade it.
0:09:10 > 0:09:11The different rocks
0:09:11 > 0:09:12just have different colours.
0:09:12 > 0:09:14Different intensity.
0:09:14 > 0:09:15On one structure
0:09:15 > 0:09:16at the Ness of Brodgar,
0:09:16 > 0:09:18we have a corner of the building
0:09:18 > 0:09:21which seems to have little pots of different coloured pigments.
0:09:21 > 0:09:23Oh, really? So this was the Dulux store.
0:09:23 > 0:09:25This was where you went and found your Neolithic range.
0:09:25 > 0:09:27It could well have been, yeah.
0:09:27 > 0:09:30It would have been a bright, colourful, highly decorated world.
0:09:36 > 0:09:39The people of Neolithic Scotland cared deeply about the objects
0:09:39 > 0:09:43and decorations that they surrounded themselves with.
0:09:43 > 0:09:44They worked with
0:09:44 > 0:09:47difficult materials and difficult tools -
0:09:47 > 0:09:52round pecking stones, knapped flints.
0:09:52 > 0:09:57Their art was all about patterns, patience, repetition.
0:09:57 > 0:10:01An art that comes to life as the light moves,
0:10:01 > 0:10:03as it would have as the firelight flickered.
0:10:06 > 0:10:12So there were ornamented walls and there were ornaments as well.
0:10:12 > 0:10:13On the island of Westray,
0:10:13 > 0:10:17archaeologists have found something rather rare...and rather wonderful.
0:10:25 > 0:10:275,000 years ago,
0:10:27 > 0:10:31a man, a woman - a child, perhaps - made this.
0:10:31 > 0:10:33And once they were satisfied
0:10:33 > 0:10:37with this lovely, smooth oval shape for a head,
0:10:37 > 0:10:40they began to scratch in some details.
0:10:40 > 0:10:41Eyebrows...
0:10:41 > 0:10:43There's even a hairline.
0:10:43 > 0:10:48And then they put in a little pair of eyes.
0:10:48 > 0:10:52And when I meet with the eyes, it is like a portal in time.
0:10:52 > 0:10:55It's like a TARDIS - I'm time-travelling to the moment
0:10:55 > 0:10:59where I can shake hands with the ancient craftsman
0:10:59 > 0:11:00who made this.
0:11:01 > 0:11:05This little figurine is a gatekeeper
0:11:05 > 0:11:10to the wonders of Neolithic art in Scotland
0:11:10 > 0:11:16and she's the oldest sculpted representation of a human form
0:11:16 > 0:11:18ever found in the British isles.
0:11:22 > 0:11:24The Westray Wife was found in a building
0:11:24 > 0:11:26that was in use for generations.
0:11:26 > 0:11:28When it was at last abandoned,
0:11:28 > 0:11:33the wife was placed there as a sort of delicate farewell.
0:11:35 > 0:11:39She might seem simple to you - rough and unfinished.
0:11:39 > 0:11:44Of course, you could say that of all the ancient art we've seen.
0:11:44 > 0:11:49But then you come across these, and you have to think again.
0:11:51 > 0:11:56Some of the earliest examples of art from this time before history
0:11:56 > 0:11:59are these carved stone balls,
0:11:59 > 0:12:03and you can use superlatives too flippantly,
0:12:03 > 0:12:07but I genuinely find these to be awesome.
0:12:07 > 0:12:12They are hypnotic examples - entrancing, beguiling examples -
0:12:12 > 0:12:15of Neolithic art.
0:12:19 > 0:12:22Hundreds have been found in the isles to the north and west
0:12:22 > 0:12:25and on the eastern side of mainland Scotland.
0:12:25 > 0:12:28We have no idea how a Neolithic artist
0:12:28 > 0:12:32could make something so close to a perfect sphere
0:12:32 > 0:12:35or ornament it so symmetrically,
0:12:35 > 0:12:37and no idea what they were for.
0:12:37 > 0:12:40It's possible that holding one of these conferred the right
0:12:40 > 0:12:43to speak at social gatherings.
0:12:45 > 0:12:49I really do find these objects far more compelling
0:12:49 > 0:12:53than any number of priapic stone circles -
0:12:53 > 0:12:56perhaps because I can imagine in the dark,
0:12:56 > 0:12:58or with your eyes closed,
0:12:58 > 0:13:02you can still feel the extraordinary craftsmanship.
0:13:02 > 0:13:07And the message that I feel coming to me across the 5,000 years
0:13:07 > 0:13:12that separates me from the person that sculpted this object
0:13:12 > 0:13:15is that the inhabitants of Neolithic Scotland
0:13:15 > 0:13:19were not anonymous barbarians, hurling rocks at one another.
0:13:19 > 0:13:25This wasn't some chaotic wilderness tumbling into the Atlantic.
0:13:25 > 0:13:30From the very start, this society reserved a place
0:13:30 > 0:13:32and a role for art.
0:13:32 > 0:13:35These were developing networks of communities,
0:13:35 > 0:13:37people like you and me,
0:13:37 > 0:13:40who had complex belief systems,
0:13:40 > 0:13:44who valued objects like this as status symbols,
0:13:44 > 0:13:50and who had an ability to create and to craft great beauty that,
0:13:50 > 0:13:52to some extent, eludes us today.
0:14:05 > 0:14:11Time passed and history began - written history.
0:14:11 > 0:14:13The Romans came.
0:14:13 > 0:14:17They conquered the tribes of what we now call England.
0:14:17 > 0:14:20But what we now call Scotland was more...difficult -
0:14:20 > 0:14:23possibly rather less attractive.
0:14:23 > 0:14:25To be honest, it's hardly Tuscany,
0:14:25 > 0:14:30so as far as Scotland is concerned, the Romans came, they saw,
0:14:30 > 0:14:32and they left as rapidly as possible,
0:14:32 > 0:14:36leaving behind a few traces of their material culture -
0:14:36 > 0:14:40a couple of coins, some fortresses, some sculptures,
0:14:40 > 0:14:43to which the elements were unkind.
0:14:45 > 0:14:46Nothing personal -
0:14:46 > 0:14:50the Scottish elements are unkind to everything.
0:14:55 > 0:14:58What the Romans mostly left behind was names.
0:14:58 > 0:15:02It was a Roman who called the land north of the Forth "Caledonia",
0:15:02 > 0:15:07which according to some people means "land of the hard men".
0:15:07 > 0:15:09Talk about typecasting!
0:15:10 > 0:15:12And it was a Roman who named the two tribes
0:15:12 > 0:15:16that were particularly troublesome - the Picti and the Scoti.
0:15:18 > 0:15:21The Scoti had come from Ireland.
0:15:21 > 0:15:25They dominated the Western Isles and the western mainland,
0:15:25 > 0:15:27and they spoke Gaelic.
0:15:27 > 0:15:29They were the Gaels.
0:15:32 > 0:15:35The Picti spoke something more like Welsh.
0:15:35 > 0:15:38Their lands were in the north and east,
0:15:38 > 0:15:42and the name the Romans chose for them meant something.
0:15:42 > 0:15:45"The Picts" - "the painted people".
0:15:47 > 0:15:49I mean, the Picts WERE art.
0:15:49 > 0:15:52They were art in the flesh, art on the move.
0:15:52 > 0:15:55The Romans described them as barbarians, naked apart from
0:15:55 > 0:15:58the patterns that covered their bodies, the tattoos,
0:15:58 > 0:16:02and in many ways, apart from all that colour and dazzle,
0:16:02 > 0:16:04that's the reputation that's stuck.
0:16:04 > 0:16:09The Picts came to epitomise this idea of a dark-age brutality
0:16:09 > 0:16:11and backwardness.
0:16:16 > 0:16:18That idea lasted.
0:16:18 > 0:16:20For centuries, the Picts were seen as savage,
0:16:20 > 0:16:23tattooed, moustachioed maniacs
0:16:23 > 0:16:26who saw your head as a desirable accessory.
0:16:28 > 0:16:31Part of that myth was a mystery.
0:16:31 > 0:16:34The fact that at some time around 900 AD,
0:16:34 > 0:16:38the Picts simply seemed to disappear from history.
0:16:40 > 0:16:45We've always been sure that we know much more about the Gaels.
0:16:45 > 0:16:48We've always thought of THEM as the people who did most
0:16:48 > 0:16:51to bring the message of Christian peace
0:16:51 > 0:16:54to a chaotically violent Scotland.
0:16:56 > 0:17:01St Columba arrived from Ireland in 563.
0:17:01 > 0:17:04The king of the Gaels gave him land on Iona,
0:17:04 > 0:17:06where he founded a monastery,
0:17:06 > 0:17:09and he and his missionaries lit the West of Scotland
0:17:09 > 0:17:12with the fire of Christian belief.
0:17:13 > 0:17:15And slowly, it spread.
0:17:17 > 0:17:21Fuelling that fire, undoubtedly, was art.
0:17:21 > 0:17:26The Celtic cross was the central icon of the Columban church.
0:17:26 > 0:17:30At one point there were said to have been 1,000 such crosses
0:17:30 > 0:17:32on the island of Iona.
0:17:32 > 0:17:35And it's a symbol which powerfully combines
0:17:35 > 0:17:38simplicity with ornament.
0:17:38 > 0:17:41You've got this elegant, slender shaft
0:17:41 > 0:17:45and then the small arms of the cross
0:17:45 > 0:17:49which are gathered together elegantly in a circle.
0:17:49 > 0:17:53It's a geometrical form that you could read from a long way away,
0:17:53 > 0:17:56but the closer you get, the more you'll discover
0:17:56 > 0:17:59the intricate Celtic knotwork
0:17:59 > 0:18:02and the patterns inscribed onto the stone.
0:18:04 > 0:18:06And then there was the Book of Kells,
0:18:06 > 0:18:09which many believe was created on Iona
0:18:09 > 0:18:11around the year 800.
0:18:11 > 0:18:14There's nothing simple about this.
0:18:16 > 0:18:19The Book of Kells is an illuminated manuscript
0:18:19 > 0:18:23of the four Christian gospels drawn on vellum -
0:18:23 > 0:18:26the heavily treated skins of calves.
0:18:28 > 0:18:30Whether you believe in God or not,
0:18:30 > 0:18:32its beauty is impossible to deny.
0:18:35 > 0:18:38What you have is a kind of Christian magic,
0:18:38 > 0:18:40where beasts and symbols
0:18:40 > 0:18:43come to life on the page.
0:18:47 > 0:18:51They call this "manuscript illumination",
0:18:51 > 0:18:54but it feels to me as if the pages of the Book of Kells
0:18:54 > 0:18:59have absorbed all that candlelight from the scriptorium on Iona,
0:18:59 > 0:19:04and they beam it back to us through a prism of exotic pigments.
0:19:08 > 0:19:09Gold...
0:19:09 > 0:19:12ultramarine...
0:19:12 > 0:19:13indigo.
0:19:17 > 0:19:21You can lose yourself in the Book of Kells.
0:19:21 > 0:19:24Which is how I sometimes imagine the people,
0:19:24 > 0:19:28the artist monks, the scribes who worked on it.
0:19:28 > 0:19:31We aren't exactly sure how many scribes there were,
0:19:31 > 0:19:32but there weren't many.
0:19:32 > 0:19:35At the moment the consensus is about five.
0:19:35 > 0:19:39It actually surprises me that there were so few.
0:19:39 > 0:19:44It means that years, many, many years,
0:19:44 > 0:19:46must have gone into its production.
0:19:46 > 0:19:48Entire lives.
0:19:52 > 0:19:55By the time of Kells, the church of St Columba
0:19:55 > 0:19:59and the kings of the Gaels had formed a strong partnership.
0:20:00 > 0:20:05And for a long time, that's been the story about how Christianity
0:20:05 > 0:20:08and Christian art came to Scotland.
0:20:08 > 0:20:10It's a peaceful story.
0:20:11 > 0:20:15But it is incomplete, because these weren't peaceful times.
0:20:15 > 0:20:18These were times of great conflict.
0:20:25 > 0:20:29And the truth about the art of these centuries is this.
0:20:29 > 0:20:31We're lucky to have whatever has survived.
0:20:31 > 0:20:35When you look at the Book of Kells, you think it's complete.
0:20:35 > 0:20:38But the monastery in which we believe Kells was created
0:20:38 > 0:20:43was raided many times in the ninth century, by Vikings and others.
0:20:46 > 0:20:48The Book of Kells ended up in Ireland,
0:20:48 > 0:20:51where it lost its binding and several pages.
0:20:51 > 0:20:53We're lucky to have it at all,
0:20:53 > 0:20:58and other manuscripts will have been destroyed and lost forever.
0:20:58 > 0:21:03The art of these centuries bears the traces of violence.
0:21:03 > 0:21:07It was coveted, sometimes even feared.
0:21:07 > 0:21:09Today, it sits quietly in museums,
0:21:09 > 0:21:11but if you listen carefully...
0:21:11 > 0:21:14it growls.
0:21:17 > 0:21:19This small, battered silver church,
0:21:19 > 0:21:21the Monymusk Reliquary,
0:21:21 > 0:21:23was once believed to have contained relics -
0:21:23 > 0:21:26parts of the body of St Columba himself.
0:21:30 > 0:21:34Columba's name means "dove",
0:21:34 > 0:21:36but there's very little that's peaceful
0:21:36 > 0:21:38about the Monymusk Reliquary.
0:21:38 > 0:21:40When this object was created,
0:21:40 > 0:21:43many years after he had died,
0:21:43 > 0:21:47Columba had become a kind of god to victory.
0:21:47 > 0:21:50This object was carried at the head of armies,
0:21:50 > 0:21:54and Columba's prayer book was known as the Cathach -
0:21:54 > 0:21:56the Battler.
0:21:59 > 0:22:01And here is the exquisite Hunterston Brooch,
0:22:01 > 0:22:03late seventh century.
0:22:03 > 0:22:05It belongs to the culture of
0:22:05 > 0:22:08the Gaels of the islands and the western mainland.
0:22:10 > 0:22:13Look at this. It's a real statement object,
0:22:13 > 0:22:16and it's covered in fine filigree decoration,
0:22:16 > 0:22:18Celtic knotwork,
0:22:18 > 0:22:20beautiful inlays,
0:22:20 > 0:22:23and one tiny detail - it's called a Glory,
0:22:23 > 0:22:26and it's a representation of the Christian cross.
0:22:26 > 0:22:30But stamped across the back of this brooch is another message,
0:22:30 > 0:22:33and it's written in Viking runes -
0:22:33 > 0:22:35"Melbrigda owns this brooch".
0:22:38 > 0:22:41But the name Melbrigda is a Gaelic name.
0:22:41 > 0:22:44Is it a warning to Viking thieves and raiders?
0:22:44 > 0:22:46"Hands off!"?
0:22:49 > 0:22:52This is the treasure of St Ninian's Isle,
0:22:52 > 0:22:53from the Shetlands.
0:22:53 > 0:22:58And this item here, with its dragon heads at either end,
0:22:58 > 0:23:02looks at first glance like another piece of jewellery to be worn.
0:23:02 > 0:23:06But in fact, it's a decoration for a sword scabbard.
0:23:06 > 0:23:09And there's an inscription on it,
0:23:09 > 0:23:13and it says, "In the name of God the Highest."
0:23:13 > 0:23:17This is a weapon dedicated to God's service,
0:23:17 > 0:23:21and these were centuries in which everybody was taking sides.
0:23:21 > 0:23:25And everyone was insisting that God just happened to be on THEIR side.
0:23:25 > 0:23:29I'm pretty certain that God was never consulted on the matter.
0:23:33 > 0:23:36And here's another truth about the art of these centuries.
0:23:36 > 0:23:40Once you realise that what we're looking at is only what survived,
0:23:40 > 0:23:43you understand the picture is incomplete.
0:23:43 > 0:23:45There are pieces missing.
0:23:45 > 0:23:47And in the last 20 years,
0:23:47 > 0:23:51the big story in the art of Scotland's dark ages
0:23:51 > 0:23:55has been what we've learnt about what we thought never existed.
0:23:58 > 0:24:04The art of the supposedly savage, illiterate Picts.
0:24:08 > 0:24:11In the fifth and sixth centuries,
0:24:11 > 0:24:14stones like these began to appear all over the Pictish dominions,
0:24:14 > 0:24:17covered in symbols that we've never understood.
0:24:17 > 0:24:21They're mysterious, like the Picts themselves.
0:24:21 > 0:24:23There are serpents.
0:24:23 > 0:24:25Linked discs.
0:24:25 > 0:24:27A mirror.
0:24:27 > 0:24:28Some straight lines.
0:24:28 > 0:24:30Z-shapes. V-shapes.
0:24:30 > 0:24:33But mostly, it's all about curves,
0:24:33 > 0:24:35and particular creatures.
0:24:39 > 0:24:42It's recently been realised that this is almost certainly
0:24:42 > 0:24:46the Pictish script that we were told the Picts never possessed -
0:24:46 > 0:24:50used for writing names and nothing else,
0:24:50 > 0:24:52but a script nevertheless.
0:24:54 > 0:24:56And if we go to one of the many places
0:24:56 > 0:24:59where Pictish stones have been gathered together,
0:24:59 > 0:25:01we can get an even greater sense
0:25:01 > 0:25:04of the sheer variety of Pictish stone carving,
0:25:04 > 0:25:07of how they went beyond that simple alphabet
0:25:07 > 0:25:09into a world of art.
0:25:21 > 0:25:25I feel like an explorer entering an Egyptian tomb.
0:25:25 > 0:25:28These people were undoubtedly violent,
0:25:28 > 0:25:32but they were poets too, when it came to carving stone.
0:25:33 > 0:25:35It's astonishing.
0:25:38 > 0:25:41It's already clear that the Picts weren't savages,
0:25:41 > 0:25:43and on the other side of these stones
0:25:43 > 0:25:46there's another big surprise.
0:25:47 > 0:25:49By the time these stones were made,
0:25:49 > 0:25:52the Picts weren't just wonderful artists -
0:25:52 > 0:25:54they were Christians, too.
0:25:59 > 0:26:02Archaeologist Sally Foster is one of the many scholars
0:26:02 > 0:26:06who have been rethinking what we know about the Picts,
0:26:06 > 0:26:11and she's taking me to see one of her favourite examples of Pictish art.
0:26:13 > 0:26:16So Sally, describe to me, what have we got in front of us here?
0:26:16 > 0:26:19Well, we're looking at one of the most wonderful,
0:26:19 > 0:26:23beautiful, exquisite Pictish sculptures.
0:26:23 > 0:26:24Effectively it's a cross-slab.
0:26:24 > 0:26:26You can see that we're looking at
0:26:26 > 0:26:28a large slab of stone that's been shaped
0:26:28 > 0:26:32and the main decorative theme on this stone is clearly a cross.
0:26:32 > 0:26:34That's why we call it a cross-slab.
0:26:34 > 0:26:38Every surface of the stone has been decorated, around the cross.
0:26:38 > 0:26:43And at the very top we've got a scene showing two saints.
0:26:43 > 0:26:46In effect, it looks like a manuscript, doesn't it?
0:26:46 > 0:26:48If you're familiar with manuscripts of this period,
0:26:48 > 0:26:51every inch of the surface has been covered
0:26:51 > 0:26:53with different sorts of designs...
0:26:53 > 0:26:56We haven't seen any Pictish manuscripts, have we?
0:26:56 > 0:26:58No, none survive.
0:26:58 > 0:27:01So this is our equivalent of what a Pictish manuscript
0:27:01 > 0:27:03- could have looked like? - Yes, absolutely.
0:27:03 > 0:27:05And I think when we look at the sculpture,
0:27:05 > 0:27:06it's a reminder of what we're missing,
0:27:06 > 0:27:08because we also don't have much metalwork
0:27:08 > 0:27:10surviving from the period either,
0:27:10 > 0:27:12but we can see, for example, in these boss forms,
0:27:12 > 0:27:15you can readily imagine what they'd look like in metal.
0:27:15 > 0:27:17And there are a few bits of metalwork
0:27:17 > 0:27:20that have similar sort of boss-like forms on them.
0:27:20 > 0:27:23So we can use the stone to imagine Pictish manuscripts
0:27:23 > 0:27:26- and Pictish jewellery, Pictish metalwork?- Absolutely.
0:27:31 > 0:27:33Here we are talking about Pictish manuscripts,
0:27:33 > 0:27:35and the reason we can with confidence
0:27:35 > 0:27:38is that just a few miles from this little church
0:27:38 > 0:27:41in the town of Portmahomack in the heart of Pictland,
0:27:41 > 0:27:45archaeologists have found the remnants of a Pictish monastery.
0:27:45 > 0:27:47Just like Iona.
0:27:47 > 0:27:50There are fragments of other cross-slabs,
0:27:50 > 0:27:52carvings of Christ and the apostles,
0:27:52 > 0:27:55and all of the equipment required for making vellum.
0:27:55 > 0:27:58The Picts must have had manuscripts.
0:27:58 > 0:28:01But we've lost them all.
0:28:01 > 0:28:04Since Roman times, we've thought the Picts were violent savages.
0:28:04 > 0:28:08In fact, they were literate, Christian fine artists.
0:28:08 > 0:28:12They had a partnership with a church, just like the Gaels did
0:28:12 > 0:28:14with the Church of St Columba.
0:28:14 > 0:28:17The Pictish cross-slabs were the work of priests or monks
0:28:17 > 0:28:20who supported Pictish kings,
0:28:20 > 0:28:22and they travelled the country sculpting stones
0:28:22 > 0:28:25that projected the power of the Christian god
0:28:25 > 0:28:27and the kings of the Picts.
0:28:29 > 0:28:34Those Pictish aristos weren't just trying to tart up the lay-by.
0:28:34 > 0:28:37For them, these were advertising hoardings,
0:28:37 > 0:28:40and the message that they were pushing was clear.
0:28:40 > 0:28:42The Pictish nobility and the Church
0:28:42 > 0:28:45were two halves to the same slab of life.
0:28:45 > 0:28:47They were the power.
0:29:00 > 0:29:02As we reach the eighth century,
0:29:02 > 0:29:06the artistic arms race between Picts and Gaels becomes fiercer.
0:29:06 > 0:29:10The St Andrews Sarcophagus is Pictish,
0:29:10 > 0:29:13and it belongs to the second half of that century,
0:29:13 > 0:29:18when monks on Iona may well have begun work on the Book of Kells.
0:29:21 > 0:29:23By this point in history,
0:29:23 > 0:29:26Scottish art was no longer just about outlines.
0:29:26 > 0:29:29It had colour, depth...
0:29:29 > 0:29:31it had complexity.
0:29:31 > 0:29:35And as I'm drawing this magnificent relief,
0:29:35 > 0:29:38I'm really having to get into the shading,
0:29:38 > 0:29:41and I'm going to pull out the highlights,
0:29:41 > 0:29:44the recesses, the areas of shadow
0:29:44 > 0:29:50that help make these forms feel...naturalistic, real.
0:29:50 > 0:29:513D.
0:29:53 > 0:29:56And for certain, by this point in history,
0:29:56 > 0:29:59the relationship between the Church and politics in Scotland
0:29:59 > 0:30:02was very far from two-dimensional.
0:30:04 > 0:30:08As the tension between Pict and Gael grew,
0:30:08 > 0:30:11the message of the partnership between the Picts and THEIR church
0:30:11 > 0:30:14homed in on one particular figure.
0:30:14 > 0:30:15A biblical figure.
0:30:17 > 0:30:22Now, this might just look like another Pictish hunting scene,
0:30:22 > 0:30:26but to an audience who was really well-versed in understanding
0:30:26 > 0:30:27and identifying symbols,
0:30:27 > 0:30:31they'd have recognised that this dominant figure
0:30:31 > 0:30:34on the right-hand side is actually King David,
0:30:34 > 0:30:37the righteous king of Israel,
0:30:37 > 0:30:43composer of the Psalms, emblem of courageous leadership.
0:30:43 > 0:30:48And here he's shown protecting his flock from attack by a lion.
0:30:51 > 0:30:54According to the Bible, the Psalms were all David's own work,
0:30:54 > 0:30:58and they aren't just prayers - they're boasts of military might.
0:30:58 > 0:31:00They're threats.
0:31:04 > 0:31:07And you have to remember that King David
0:31:07 > 0:31:09was a pretty merciless character.
0:31:09 > 0:31:15He won his battles, and as he said in Psalm 18,
0:31:15 > 0:31:19"I have pursued mine enemies and overtaken them.
0:31:19 > 0:31:24"Neither did I turn until they were consumed.
0:31:24 > 0:31:28"I have wounded them that they were not able to rise.
0:31:28 > 0:31:31"They are fallen under my feet."
0:31:31 > 0:31:33That's like Braveheart.
0:31:37 > 0:31:39And that should be borne in mind
0:31:39 > 0:31:43when we contemplate the luxuriant Book of Kells.
0:31:43 > 0:31:45Its very beauty and artistry
0:31:45 > 0:31:49was a direct threat to the power of the Pictish kings -
0:31:49 > 0:31:53and this was how the Picts responded.
0:31:54 > 0:31:59"I have pursued mine enemies."
0:32:05 > 0:32:08And after centuries of thrust and counter-thrust,
0:32:08 > 0:32:11during the ninth century, something happened.
0:32:11 > 0:32:16By the year 900, there was one king, of a land called Alba.
0:32:16 > 0:32:19A land which covered most of what we now call Scotland.
0:32:19 > 0:32:22A king who spoke Gaelic,
0:32:22 > 0:32:26but claimed descent from the kings of the Picts.
0:32:26 > 0:32:30The two identities had merged somehow -
0:32:30 > 0:32:34but not painlessly. Not without the spilling of blood.
0:32:38 > 0:32:44This is one last glorious example of conflict art -
0:32:44 > 0:32:48a unique and in some ways hilarious eruption of might.
0:32:48 > 0:32:51I mean, even the Romans would have struggled to pack
0:32:51 > 0:32:53quite this much weaponry,
0:32:53 > 0:32:55soldiers, decapitations,
0:32:55 > 0:32:57ostentatious sense of triumph,
0:32:57 > 0:33:01into 21 feet of carved stone.
0:33:01 > 0:33:03And although they would probably
0:33:03 > 0:33:06have done a much more elaborate and exquisite job,
0:33:06 > 0:33:09they could never have told you a more gripping tale.
0:33:13 > 0:33:16This stone, to the east of Inverness,
0:33:16 > 0:33:20may represent the final victory of the Gaels over the Picts -
0:33:20 > 0:33:23but might be about a different victory altogether.
0:33:23 > 0:33:27So it's somehow very right that it has weathered so badly
0:33:27 > 0:33:31that its lines are blurred and indistinct.
0:33:36 > 0:33:38Now, although this stone
0:33:38 > 0:33:42appears to have been wounded by centuries of Scottish weather,
0:33:42 > 0:33:46what we've actually got here is a carved picture book.
0:33:46 > 0:33:50And it's telling us about a battle, a moment when two armies come together.
0:33:50 > 0:33:52You can see them gathering here
0:33:52 > 0:33:56and you can imagine the sunlight glinting on the axes and the swords.
0:33:56 > 0:34:00In the second chapter, the conflict begins.
0:34:00 > 0:34:02The swords are flying, the blood is splattering,
0:34:02 > 0:34:05and there's a pile of growing bodies.
0:34:05 > 0:34:08The further up we move, we have retribution -
0:34:08 > 0:34:11the victors decapitating their enemies.
0:34:11 > 0:34:15And at the top, that great triumphal parade.
0:34:15 > 0:34:18I mean, if this was made of flesh, not stone,
0:34:18 > 0:34:21the blood would be oozing through the pores.
0:34:27 > 0:34:31And on the back, of course, the Christian cross.
0:34:31 > 0:34:35Whatever else had happened, the partnership between crown and church
0:34:35 > 0:34:36was still in place,
0:34:36 > 0:34:41and art was still projecting that message.
0:34:43 > 0:34:47Time passed. Dynasties came and went.
0:34:47 > 0:34:50By and large, Scotland stopped fighting with itself,
0:34:50 > 0:34:53and started fighting with the English instead.
0:34:53 > 0:34:57King after Scottish king, and a couple of queens,
0:34:57 > 0:34:59sat on the Scottish throne,
0:34:59 > 0:35:02and art did the same job for them all -
0:35:02 > 0:35:05projecting power, confirming authority.
0:35:05 > 0:35:09And it was still doing it for the Stuart dynasty in the 1500s.
0:35:13 > 0:35:17James Stuart, the fifth Scottish monarch to bear that name,
0:35:17 > 0:35:18was not a lucky king.
0:35:18 > 0:35:20His life and his short reign
0:35:20 > 0:35:24were defined by two defeats to the English.
0:35:24 > 0:35:28Born in 1512, he was crowned king by the age of two
0:35:28 > 0:35:31after his father was killed at the Battle of Flodden.
0:35:31 > 0:35:34And then in 1542, he himself died
0:35:34 > 0:35:38after his forces were defeated at Solway Moss.
0:35:38 > 0:35:40It all sounds rather inauspicious.
0:35:40 > 0:35:45But in fact, James V was part of a Stuart dynasty of kings
0:35:45 > 0:35:49who understood and exploited the power of art.
0:35:55 > 0:35:58He was born here at Linlithgow Palace,
0:35:58 > 0:36:01and by the time of his birth, this building represented
0:36:01 > 0:36:07the artistic patronage and vision of four successive Stuart kings.
0:36:10 > 0:36:13They built a magnificent hall, a chapel,
0:36:13 > 0:36:16and suites of elegant rooms.
0:36:16 > 0:36:20Art was a vital part of the picture.
0:36:20 > 0:36:23And as art historian Bendor Grosvenor knows,
0:36:23 > 0:36:27that was true for anyone who had the necessary cash.
0:36:29 > 0:36:32So Bendor, tell me, what are we standing in front of here?
0:36:32 > 0:36:33These are the surviving parts
0:36:33 > 0:36:36of a picture which I think is one of the most important
0:36:36 > 0:36:37in the story of Scottish art.
0:36:37 > 0:36:39It's called the Trinity Altarpiece.
0:36:39 > 0:36:43Painted in the 1470s by a Flemish painter called Hugo van der Goes.
0:36:43 > 0:36:45It was painted in Flanders in modern-day Belgium,
0:36:45 > 0:36:48in what we call the Northern Renaissance,
0:36:48 > 0:36:51when artists were perfecting a whole range of new techniques.
0:36:51 > 0:36:54Indeed, painting in a new medium, oil paint,
0:36:54 > 0:36:58recently invented in Flanders, which allows them for the first time
0:36:58 > 0:37:01to paint the human form in this amazingly faithful way.
0:37:01 > 0:37:03It was designed to go above the altar
0:37:03 > 0:37:04in Trinity Church here in Edinburgh,
0:37:04 > 0:37:07and it was commissioned by this chap we see here on the right,
0:37:07 > 0:37:10Sir Edward Bonkle. He was evidently a rather wealthy chap,
0:37:10 > 0:37:13I think, if we look at his luxuriously painted fur cloak.
0:37:13 > 0:37:15And Bonkle, was he a kind of oligarch of the time?
0:37:15 > 0:37:18Is he going to have this painting created
0:37:18 > 0:37:20in order to prove he had the resources,
0:37:20 > 0:37:22to big himself up in the eyes of others?
0:37:22 > 0:37:24It's quite blingy, isn't it, with all that gold paint there?
0:37:24 > 0:37:27He's wanting to show that he's wealthy.
0:37:27 > 0:37:29But I think it's only if we open this picture up
0:37:29 > 0:37:31and look at the other side of it
0:37:31 > 0:37:33that we'll actually find out what this painting is all about.
0:37:36 > 0:37:39Fantastic. So who have we got here, Bendor, what's going on?
0:37:39 > 0:37:41The first thing you'll notice is we're looking at a gap.
0:37:41 > 0:37:44There would have been a Madonna in the middle here,
0:37:44 > 0:37:45which is sadly destroyed,
0:37:45 > 0:37:48but actually I think the interesting thing is on the sides here.
0:37:48 > 0:37:52Cos we've got these really quite incredible portraits, for the time,
0:37:52 > 0:37:54of King James III of Scotland,
0:37:54 > 0:37:56there with his son behind him, James IV,
0:37:56 > 0:37:59and above them in a sort of protective way
0:37:59 > 0:38:01is St Andrew, the patron saint of Scotland,
0:38:01 > 0:38:04and on the right here we've got James's queen, Margaret of Denmark,
0:38:04 > 0:38:06supported by another saint.
0:38:06 > 0:38:08And I think what the picture is all about
0:38:08 > 0:38:11is that Bonkle is not only showing that he's a religious fellow,
0:38:11 > 0:38:15devoted to God, but he's saying, "Look how close I am
0:38:15 > 0:38:17"to the king and the queen", the royal family.
0:38:17 > 0:38:20So you can imagine the situation where Bonkle is in the church
0:38:20 > 0:38:23with the king, they're all looking at their own portraits,
0:38:23 > 0:38:26thinking, "Goodness me, aren't we important and looking lovely?"
0:38:29 > 0:38:33Without a doubt, James II will have been very pleased with
0:38:33 > 0:38:36this very courtly, very godly compliment.
0:38:37 > 0:38:41And his son, James IV, paid serious money for this
0:38:41 > 0:38:43as a present for his wife -
0:38:43 > 0:38:47a book of hours to help her with her daily prayers.
0:38:47 > 0:38:49Every queen should have one!
0:38:49 > 0:38:52Once again, it was from the Netherlands.
0:38:52 > 0:38:55And James V kept the tradition going.
0:38:55 > 0:39:00He visited France in 1536 seeking the hand of the king of France's daughter
0:39:00 > 0:39:02and he must have dug very deep indeed
0:39:02 > 0:39:04to pay for this wonderful portrait
0:39:04 > 0:39:08by yet another Dutchman, Corneille de Lyon.
0:39:08 > 0:39:10James was playing with the big boys.
0:39:10 > 0:39:13This was high-stakes art.
0:39:15 > 0:39:18Up until now, most portraits of Scottish monarchs
0:39:18 > 0:39:20have felt a little awkward,
0:39:20 > 0:39:23as if the artist was stumbling around in the shadows,
0:39:23 > 0:39:24grasping for a likeness.
0:39:24 > 0:39:28But now we emerge into the light of the Renaissance.
0:39:28 > 0:39:32Never have we been introduced to a Scottish monarch more intimately.
0:39:32 > 0:39:35This - this is a real person.
0:39:35 > 0:39:38You expect him to blink at any moment.
0:39:38 > 0:39:39This is a real Scot.
0:39:39 > 0:39:42And he's ginger, too!
0:39:42 > 0:39:44The portrait worked.
0:39:44 > 0:39:46James married the king of France's daughter
0:39:46 > 0:39:49in January of 1537.
0:39:49 > 0:39:53It's unfortunate, then, that a matter of a few months later,
0:39:53 > 0:39:54she died of consumption.
0:39:54 > 0:39:57As I said, he was unlucky.
0:40:01 > 0:40:05James had to make do instead with the daughter of a French duke,
0:40:05 > 0:40:07Mary of Guise,
0:40:07 > 0:40:11and here at Linlithgow he made the very best of a bad job
0:40:11 > 0:40:15by blowing over £5,000 on this fountain.
0:40:28 > 0:40:32Such water features were all the rage across Europe.
0:40:32 > 0:40:37Henry VIII had two of them, but his were only made of wood.
0:40:37 > 0:40:40With its carved ornamental buttresses,
0:40:40 > 0:40:42its naturalistic sculpture,
0:40:42 > 0:40:47the elegant crown upon the top, this was going to be a multicoloured,
0:40:47 > 0:40:50thrusting, squirting statement of intent.
0:40:50 > 0:40:52Just what he needed, James thought,
0:40:52 > 0:40:55to impress his new, sophisticated French wife.
0:41:03 > 0:41:07It's a wonderful Renaissance blend of reality and fantasy.
0:41:07 > 0:41:10Here are people that we might expect to meet at court
0:41:10 > 0:41:13and some that are fresh from a fairytale.
0:41:14 > 0:41:17Mermaids. Unicorns.
0:41:17 > 0:41:20Little quotes from the world of architecture.
0:41:22 > 0:41:25And when you add it all together, you project an image -
0:41:25 > 0:41:30an image of enlightened patronage, of confidence, of splendour.
0:41:30 > 0:41:31Scottish splendour.
0:41:36 > 0:41:41James V carried on carving. He had works done at Holyrood in Edinburgh,
0:41:41 > 0:41:44at Falkland Palace in Fife.
0:41:44 > 0:41:49And at Stirling Castle, he picked up where his father had left off.
0:41:50 > 0:41:57James IV built the great hall. His son, the palace block.
0:41:57 > 0:41:59No-one coming here was going to be allowed
0:41:59 > 0:42:02to mistake the Scottish crown for a minor monarchy.
0:42:05 > 0:42:09Stirling Castle had the misfortune to become an army barracks.
0:42:09 > 0:42:11It all suffered.
0:42:11 > 0:42:14The palace block suffered particularly badly.
0:42:14 > 0:42:17But there's something about these sculptures still,
0:42:17 > 0:42:19however damaged they are.
0:42:19 > 0:42:22Something fleshy, something wicked.
0:42:22 > 0:42:25Something gleeful, cartoonish and earthy.
0:42:32 > 0:42:35Inside, the palace has been recently restored.
0:42:38 > 0:42:41And what it's revealed is that Scottish splendour wasn't drab,
0:42:41 > 0:42:43it wasn't dreich.
0:42:43 > 0:42:47Just because the walls at Linlithgow have been dulled by the years,
0:42:47 > 0:42:49don't be mistaken.
0:42:49 > 0:42:53The royal palaces of Scotland were explosively,
0:42:53 > 0:42:56alarmingly saturated with colour.
0:42:57 > 0:42:58How very tasteful.
0:43:00 > 0:43:03The ceiling of the king's presence chamber was covered in carved
0:43:03 > 0:43:06and painted wooden panels.
0:43:10 > 0:43:14Upstairs you can see the originals, kept under glass.
0:43:14 > 0:43:17No paint remains and they look even weirder.
0:43:20 > 0:43:24Eyes bulge. It's boisterously bizarre.
0:43:24 > 0:43:28It's hard to imagine these heads looking down on a Scottish court
0:43:28 > 0:43:32where serious business was done, but James worked very hard
0:43:32 > 0:43:35to maintain his kingdom with those noisy English neighbours.
0:43:37 > 0:43:41He used anything he could to keep his regime strong.
0:43:42 > 0:43:45And that included the church.
0:43:45 > 0:43:48Henry VIII had gone so far as to split with Rome
0:43:48 > 0:43:50for the sake of securing a divorce.
0:43:51 > 0:43:56But James V was a very good and a very Catholic king.
0:43:56 > 0:44:00And if he'd embarked on a tour of all of his kingdoms and its kirks,
0:44:00 > 0:44:03he'd have found them full of rich imagery -
0:44:03 > 0:44:06paintings, stained glass, sculpture -
0:44:06 > 0:44:11all of which celebrated Christ, the Holy Family and all of the saints.
0:44:18 > 0:44:23Rosslyn Chapel, south of Edinburgh, is a 15th-century gem.
0:44:23 > 0:44:26It took 40 years to build.
0:44:26 > 0:44:30An army of craftsmen and masons were brought from France,
0:44:30 > 0:44:33where, for a century, artisans had already been mastering
0:44:33 > 0:44:36the principles of gothic architecture.
0:44:38 > 0:44:43But this is gothic art with an earthy, Scottish accent.
0:44:43 > 0:44:47I mean, the walls of this church interior are so heavily ornamented,
0:44:47 > 0:44:51it's like walking through a three-dimensional Book of Kells.
0:44:51 > 0:44:54There are carvings of oak leaves, of flowers,
0:44:54 > 0:44:58of a cast of thousands of folkloric green men.
0:45:02 > 0:45:05The green men, vines sprouting from their mouths,
0:45:05 > 0:45:08hint at ancient pagan beliefs.
0:45:08 > 0:45:12They creep through the stonework of this Christian place of worship
0:45:12 > 0:45:14like a particularly tenacious ivy.
0:45:16 > 0:45:20Rosslyn has become famous for its contradictions.
0:45:20 > 0:45:23Some people believe that Rosslyn has connections with the Templars
0:45:23 > 0:45:26or a Christ who survived the Crucifixion.
0:45:27 > 0:45:30They're sure there's more here than meets the eye.
0:45:32 > 0:45:35But what meets the eyes is more than enough.
0:45:35 > 0:45:39This building speaks clearly to me.
0:45:39 > 0:45:44And it says, "Scottish Renaissance was a glorious barn dance
0:45:44 > 0:45:46"to which everyone was welcome."
0:45:46 > 0:45:50It incites you to sing loudly and with passion,
0:45:50 > 0:45:54decorate your walls with Celtic lacework and naturalistic sculpture,
0:45:54 > 0:45:58bring along the green man and let Christ in too.
0:45:58 > 0:46:02To the glory is art, ornament and beauty.
0:46:05 > 0:46:09Look at the angels, the saints, honest and human.
0:46:10 > 0:46:12The eye that sculpted these figures was kind.
0:46:13 > 0:46:20The fingers are fat, the faces are benign, the bodies well-provided.
0:46:20 > 0:46:25There's almost nothing in this chapel that's been left unornamented.
0:46:25 > 0:46:28And when you get tired of this adornment overload,
0:46:28 > 0:46:32the best thing to do at Rosslyn is lie down and look up.
0:46:35 > 0:46:39There are the heavens, the stars, flowers...
0:46:43 > 0:46:45And in that corner,
0:46:45 > 0:46:46Christ,
0:46:46 > 0:46:48one hand raised in blessing.
0:46:50 > 0:46:52Isn't it wonderful?
0:46:52 > 0:46:57Rhythms, patterns... I feel like I'm tumbling into the stars.
0:46:59 > 0:47:04This is more than a chapel, it's architecture in motion.
0:47:05 > 0:47:09It's a clockwork, Catholic universe.
0:47:12 > 0:47:15But interiors like this are rare in Scotland.
0:47:15 > 0:47:18James V was about to lose the Catholic church
0:47:18 > 0:47:20on which his power, in part, depended.
0:47:21 > 0:47:25Hammers were poised to descend.
0:47:30 > 0:47:34This little church in a village near Dundee, Fowlis Easter,
0:47:34 > 0:47:39contains a unique treasure in the story of Scottish art.
0:47:39 > 0:47:42It's a panel painting of the Crucifixion,
0:47:42 > 0:47:45completed some time around 1480.
0:47:48 > 0:47:52What a huge spectacle for a tiny kirk.
0:47:52 > 0:47:55We'll discuss why it's so unique in a moment, but I think we should
0:47:55 > 0:48:00just contemplate it for a while and study its wonder.
0:48:25 > 0:48:29The star of this show, undoubtedly, is pain.
0:48:30 > 0:48:35This image of the Crucifixion doesn't keep us at arm's-length.
0:48:35 > 0:48:37This isn't trying to be clever.
0:48:37 > 0:48:41This is a painting that presses you into the armpit of a visceral,
0:48:41 > 0:48:42twisting tragedy.
0:48:42 > 0:48:45Can you feel it? I bloody well can.
0:48:45 > 0:48:48I can feel the drama, I can feel the might,
0:48:48 > 0:48:52I can feel the human quality to this story.
0:48:52 > 0:48:56This is Medieval folk art from the 15th century
0:48:56 > 0:48:58and it gets you in the gut.
0:48:58 > 0:49:04Can you see in that sagging stomach? Can you see in those fat feet?
0:49:04 > 0:49:07Can you feel the honesty of that depiction?
0:49:12 > 0:49:15What a clumsy depiction of a Christ that you're used to seeing
0:49:15 > 0:49:18in the Renaissance elegantly poised.
0:49:18 > 0:49:20We've got no Renaissance elegance here.
0:49:20 > 0:49:23We've got no sugaring of the pill.
0:49:23 > 0:49:28Across the whole of that image, I can feel the tenderness of his body
0:49:28 > 0:49:31and there's no mistaking his suffering.
0:49:31 > 0:49:36There's no mistaking that gash for something that is...
0:49:36 > 0:49:37endurable.
0:49:48 > 0:49:52This is exactly the kind of painting that James V would have seen,
0:49:52 > 0:49:55had he visited the kirks of his kingdom.
0:49:55 > 0:49:58And this is exactly the kind of painting the Reformation
0:49:58 > 0:50:00was about to destroy.
0:50:00 > 0:50:03And that's why we're so lucky to still have this treasure,
0:50:03 > 0:50:05this relic of Scottish art.
0:50:08 > 0:50:12The church of Fowlis Easter is full of traces of the damage
0:50:12 > 0:50:16that the Protestant Reformation would inflict upon religious art.
0:50:17 > 0:50:19This painting only survived
0:50:19 > 0:50:23because it was hidden under a layer of whitewash.
0:50:23 > 0:50:25There are pieces missing at either side.
0:50:25 > 0:50:28A few have been found and hung on the opposite wall.
0:50:30 > 0:50:33Other paintings were hidden or used as partitions.
0:50:33 > 0:50:35You can see the holes left by nails.
0:50:36 > 0:50:39Here, Christ's body has been roughly chiselled out.
0:50:43 > 0:50:47Behind the alter, two angels and a saint lost their faces.
0:50:47 > 0:50:51Only the saint was lucky enough to have anything left to restore.
0:50:55 > 0:50:58The Protestant Reformers had translated the Bible from Latin
0:50:58 > 0:51:02and in the Old Testament, they found the second commandment,
0:51:02 > 0:51:05which Christian artists, Christian worshippers
0:51:05 > 0:51:08and the Roman Catholic church had been ignoring
0:51:08 > 0:51:09for more than 1,000 years.
0:51:12 > 0:51:15"Thou shalt not make unto thee
0:51:15 > 0:51:20"any graven image or any likeness of anything that is in Heaven above,
0:51:20 > 0:51:22"or that is in the Earth beneath,
0:51:22 > 0:51:25"or that is in the water under the Earth.
0:51:25 > 0:51:30"Thou shall not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them.
0:51:30 > 0:51:34"For I, the Lord thy God, I am a jealous God."
0:51:35 > 0:51:38Now, for an artist, that is still a terrifying,
0:51:38 > 0:51:42and a terrifyingly comprehensive declaration.
0:51:42 > 0:51:46There are no loopholes. Put away your pencils and your brushes.
0:51:46 > 0:51:48Pack up your canvases.
0:51:48 > 0:51:51There's going to be no more colour, no more imagery.
0:51:51 > 0:51:52Switch out the light.
0:52:04 > 0:52:06We're back at Rosslyn.
0:52:06 > 0:52:09Privately owned by an aristocratic family, its interior,
0:52:09 > 0:52:12as we've seen, largely survived.
0:52:12 > 0:52:14But look at the outside walls.
0:52:14 > 0:52:17They were harder to protect.
0:52:18 > 0:52:21With hammers, with whatever came to hand,
0:52:21 > 0:52:26the iconoclasts contrived to wipe 700 years from our cultural hard drive.
0:52:26 > 0:52:30Across this whole facade, in every single niche,
0:52:30 > 0:52:32there would have been a sculpture of a saint.
0:52:32 > 0:52:38Up to 40 sculptures, 40 faces, smashed. Irretrievably lost.
0:52:38 > 0:52:39Gone forever.
0:52:51 > 0:52:56The destruction of religious imagery was known as iconoclasm,
0:52:56 > 0:52:59and it was inspired by the same commandment currently used
0:52:59 > 0:53:04by Isis to justify acts of wanton destruction across the Middle East.
0:53:06 > 0:53:11Because, just like Christianity, Islam adopted the Hebrew Bible
0:53:11 > 0:53:12when it was founded.
0:53:13 > 0:53:18All across Northern Europe, wherever the Reformation took hold,
0:53:18 > 0:53:20we did this too.
0:53:26 > 0:53:31And in Scotland, we did this with particular ruthlessness.
0:53:31 > 0:53:34Paintings, stained glass, statues, alter pieces,
0:53:34 > 0:53:36anything showing Christ,
0:53:36 > 0:53:40the saints, the Holy Family or angels was destroyed.
0:53:41 > 0:53:46Isis follows the second commandment to the letter.
0:53:46 > 0:53:51It bans not just images of divinity, but images of any living thing.
0:53:53 > 0:53:56And we too could have gone this far.
0:53:57 > 0:54:01The damage grew so persistent, so extreme,
0:54:01 > 0:54:03that the king himself stepped in.
0:54:03 > 0:54:07In 1541, an act was passed at his own orders
0:54:07 > 0:54:10prohibiting the destruction of images.
0:54:10 > 0:54:13And the iconoclasts paid absolutely no attention at all.
0:54:20 > 0:54:25James died a year later, a defeated man, and the iconoclasm continued.
0:54:27 > 0:54:31On the other side of 30-odd years of history,
0:54:31 > 0:54:34Scottish kirks looked like this.
0:54:34 > 0:54:37You didn't come to look. You came to listen.
0:54:39 > 0:54:45For art, the future did look as bleak and unforgiving as these pews,
0:54:45 > 0:54:46these blank walls,
0:54:46 > 0:54:50its prospects crushed under the weight of a second commandment
0:54:50 > 0:54:55that did prohibit the creation of any images of any living thing.
0:55:01 > 0:55:03But the Protestant iconoclasts
0:55:03 > 0:55:06stopped short of banning figurative art entirely.
0:55:06 > 0:55:11There could be no images of God, no angels, no saints, no images
0:55:11 > 0:55:16that could stand in for God himself or be worshipped in his place,
0:55:16 > 0:55:21but pictures of people? Pictures of ordinary human beings?
0:55:21 > 0:55:23Who could possibly worship those?
0:55:27 > 0:55:32And so, from under the rubble of their cultural earthquake,
0:55:32 > 0:55:37the iconoclasts allowed one form of figurative art
0:55:37 > 0:55:40to emerge still breathing...
0:55:40 > 0:55:42portraiture.
0:55:42 > 0:55:46So let me introduce you to King James VI,
0:55:46 > 0:55:48the first Protestant king of Scotland,
0:55:48 > 0:55:52crowned at the age of only one.
0:55:52 > 0:55:54A monarch in miniature.
0:55:58 > 0:56:02In around 1574, this picture was painted by Arnold Bronckorst,
0:56:02 > 0:56:06a Dutchman who had come to work in Scotland's royal court.
0:56:06 > 0:56:11The king was about six years old, a lonely little boy.
0:56:11 > 0:56:17Son to a murdered father, his mother forced to abdicate and imprisoned.
0:56:18 > 0:56:24And the artist doesn't stint from revealing that vulnerability.
0:56:24 > 0:56:30Bronckorst drains the blood from his face, he hollows out his eyes,
0:56:30 > 0:56:34he gives them a rawness, as if fresh from weeping.
0:56:35 > 0:56:39As a child, James was regularly beaten by his tutors.
0:56:39 > 0:56:45They were determined to flog him into the shape of a God-fearing king.
0:56:45 > 0:56:48A monarch who understood the limits of his power
0:56:48 > 0:56:50and his duty towards his people.
0:56:51 > 0:56:54And when they contemplated this particular portrait,
0:56:54 > 0:57:00those tutors must have smiled grimly and said to themselves,
0:57:00 > 0:57:03"Here is a king who will do what he's told."
0:57:06 > 0:57:10And hence, this haunting portrait of a haunted boy.
0:57:10 > 0:57:14But a realistic portrait isn't just a picture.
0:57:14 > 0:57:20It's a meeting, an encounter. We look into someone's eyes.
0:57:20 > 0:57:22We look behind them.
0:57:22 > 0:57:24We come to know their owner.
0:57:26 > 0:57:30This was the work that artists after the Reformation were allowed to do.
0:57:31 > 0:57:33And it was more than enough.
0:57:34 > 0:57:38So, no. Our story doesn't end here.
0:57:38 > 0:57:43Not in the dark. This is the candle that leads us out of the woods.
0:57:43 > 0:57:47Generations of future Scottish portrait painters would emulate
0:57:47 > 0:57:49what makes this great.
0:57:49 > 0:57:51The clarity of its observation,
0:57:51 > 0:57:55the extraordinary empathy for its subject.
0:57:55 > 0:57:58The willingness to speak truth unto power.
0:58:00 > 0:58:03This is the candle that leads us out of the woods.
0:58:03 > 0:58:05The portrait.
0:58:12 > 0:58:16Next time, we'll encounter a whole new generation of Scottish artists
0:58:16 > 0:58:19who were set to dazzle their compatriots.
0:58:19 > 0:58:22I'll follow them to Rome, where they were inspired by the art
0:58:22 > 0:58:24and architecture of the ancient world,
0:58:24 > 0:58:29heralding the emergence of a bold and distinct new identity for Scotland.