Mary, Queen of Scots was among Karl Lagerfeld's inspirations for his Chanel Métiers d'Art collection showcased at Linlithgow Castle last December. But if you're a fashion fan interested in discovering further this historical figure, you'd better go and visit the exhibition currently on at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.
"Mary, Queen of Scots" is not your conventional historical exhibition based on portraits and documents, but also features textiles and jewellery, furniture, drawings and maps to illustrate Mary’s story, and the wider world in which she lived, elements that will help visitors to get a different point of view about the dramatic story of Mary Stuart and the intriguining period of Scottish history in which she lived.
Born in 1542, Mary was queen regnant of Scotland from December 1542 to July 1567 and queen consort of France from July 1559 to December 1560. She was convicted of treason and, after 19 years as a prisoner of her cousin Elizabeth I of England, she was decapitated in 1587.
The National Museum of Scotland exhibition is divided into nine sections and tries to shed new light on this historical figure through roughly 200 objects drawn from the collections of the National Museum of Scotland, with loans from major public collections in Scotland, England and France, and also from private collections. The first section centres around the Blairs Memorial Portrait of Mary, commissioned by Elizabeth Curle, one of Mary’s closest companions during the final years of her English captivity. It represents Mary in preparation for her Catholic martyrdom on the executioner’s block.
Another section looks at costumes and jewellery and also includes drawings by Jasper Conran for a production of Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda. Unfortunately, very little survives regarding the costumes, so our best knowledge of what Mary wore comes from her portraits and from wardrobe books.
A romantic heroine with a tragic fate, according to the French tradition Mary was a woman of culture, beauty and taste. Historians say that, even as a child, Mary had a keen interest in clothes and also loved fancy dress. When she grew up, she always dressed herself elegantly and with good taste, opting for rich simplicity rather than for ostentatious styles.
For a long time as a young woman she dressed in mourning attire for her mother, father-in-law and husband, and historical sources say she was dressed in black when she arrived in Scotland. She finally cast off her mourning when she married Darnley in 1565.
In France she was known as "la reine blanche" (the white queen), for her glowing complection and passion for white dresses. Her wardrobe books reveal she owned many outfits: dresses of camlet (similar to mohair), damask or serge stiffened around the neck with buckram and mounted with lace and ribbons; loose dresses and riding skirts and cloaks made of Florentine serge edged with black velvet or fur. She accessorised her garments with hats and caps of black velvet and taffetas.
While in Scotland she resumed her childish love of fancy dress by adopting Highland mantles, that is loose and embroidered cloaks, and every now and then dressed as a man and wandered the streets incognito.
An inventory made at Holyrood in 1562 includes over 130 entries, among them gowns of cloth of gold, cloth of silver, velvet, satin and silk, cloaks and mantles. Dresses went from her favourite white to black and crimson velvet and orange damask embroidered in silver. The embroidery was actually so rich and detailed that it was often passed from dress to dress and listed separately among the jewellery.
Jewels were another important feature of Mary's attire: they were employed for decorative purposes, but also considered as financial assets, as they could be used as presents or be sold to raise cash to pay armies or debts. The inventory of jewels made in 1562 features 180 entries and includes a cross of gold set with diamonds, rings, necklaces and earrings, and a variety of gems and stones such as rubies, pearls, cornelian, turquoise, and diamonds.
Among the exquisite examples of the finest pieces of jewellery associated with Mary on display at the museum, there are also the gold necklace, locket and pendant, collectively known as the "Penicuik jewels" and dating from the late 16th century, preserved by the Clerks of Penicuik as relics of Mary.
Towards the end of her life, during her time as Elizabeth’s prisoner, Mary embroidered the motto "In my end is my beginning". Her words proved true: her son James VI of Scots became James I of England on the death of Elizabeth in 1603, so that every reigning British monarch since then has been descended from Mary, rather than from Elizabeth, who died childless. This exhibition proves that, more than 400 years after her death, Mary’s words truly turned into a prophetic epitaph.
Mary, Queen of Scots is at the National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh, until 17th November 2013
Image credits
Mary, Queen of Scots, Blairs Memorial Portrait © Blairs Museum Trust
Late 16th century, heart-shaped locket with cameo portrait of Mary, Queen of Scots © National Museums Scotland
Necklace © National Museums Scotland
Gold locket, part of the Penicuik jewels, preserved by the Clerks of Penicuik as relics of Mary © National Museums Scotland
The Darnley Jewel Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2013
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