THE NEW YORK BRANCH

OF

THE SALTIRE SOCIETY

presents

A lecture by Godfrey Evans,

National Museums of Scotland

Alexander, 10th Duke of Hamilton (1767-1852): A Study in Pride, Opportunism, and Political Passion'.

Thursday, Dec. 5th at 7:00 pm at The Church of St. Andrew, 20 Cardinal Hayes Place, NY,

Alexander, 10th Duke of Hamilton, was a fascinating individual. He was extremely proud of his status as the premier peer of Scotland and added a huge extension, with monolithic columns and a magnificent black marble staircase, on to the back of the existing Baroque palace. Il Magnifico (as he was dubbed) filled both the old and new rooms with an almost regal collection of paintings, furniture, tapestries and other works of art. This fully illustrated lecture discusses Alexander's many interests, including his purchases of superb pieces of French furniture commissioned for Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, and his ardent admiration of the Emperor Napoleon. It explains the subsequent dispersal of the collection and the demolition of the palace, and sheds light on many outstanding items now in the Metropolitan Museum, the Frick Collection, and other American museums and galleries.

Godfrey Evans

Godfrey Evans has an MA from the Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London, and has been Curator of European Metalwork and Sculpture at the National Museums of Scotland since 1982. He is an expert advisor to the Capital Taxes Office, the National Fund for Acquisitions, the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art, the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Inches Carr Trust. His interest in the Hamilton Palace collection goes back to the early 1980s and led to the 1985 Edinburgh Festival exhibition French Connections: Scotland and the Arts of France, which had a central section on the 10th Duke of Hamilton's French purchases and commissions. He has acquired a number of important Hamilton items for the National Museums of Scotland, including the traveling service of Napoleon's sister, the Princess Pauline Borghese (which was bequeathed to the 10th Duke of Hamilton), one of the Baroque interiors from Hamilton Palace, and a great silver-gilt tray by John Scofield.

Admission is free; donations will be gratefully accepted.

For further info call John Beatty (718) 338-1544 or e-mail SaltireNY@hotmail.com

The Church is located between the Municipal Building and NYPD Headquarters near the Brooklyn Bridge. It can be reached by the 4,5,6 trains at the Brooklyn Bridge stop; the 1,9 trains at Chamber Street stop; and 2,3 Park Place Stop; M and R City Hall stop.

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