It’s been a good week for …. Monarch of the Glen.
Now we know why the stag in Edwin Landseer’s famous painting has such a snooty look on his face – he knows there’s a risk of him being sold to foreigners and moving abroad.
It’s now looking a little more hopeful, though. The iconic vision of the Highlands or kitschy bit of Victorian tat (you choose) was due to be auctioned next month by its current owners, the drinks company Diageo, and the risk was that a foreign buyer would pay the expected £10million price and take the painting out of Scotland. But Diageo has since struck a deal with the National Galleries of Scotland – if they can raise £4million, the painting is theirs.
Should we be happy? Of course we should. Yes, there are a few grumpy Scots and artistic snobs who would happily wave the painting off at the docks as a symbol of a romanticised Scotland painted by an Englishman for the House of Lords. But Landseer’s painting isn’t a symbol of the past, it’s a symbol of continuity. So much in Scotland has changed in recent years – too much for some – but up there in the hills, there’s a 12-pointer stag stopping at the crest of a hill somewhere and realising just how god-damned handsome he looks. He was there 100 years ago, and, whatever else changes around here, he will be there in 100 years to come.
It’s been a bad week for … educational standards
There have always been some students who subscribe to the philosophy that it is sometimes better to stay at home and watch cartoons rather than go to lectures. But now they’re in for shock: by watching cartoons they might actually be working without realising it.
According to Glasgow University philosophy lecturer John Donaldson, there is wisdom to be found in The Simpsons – so much so that he has launched a one-day course looking at the philosophical ideas raised in the programme. Regrettably, Mr Donaldson has missed the most obvious: life, and especially popular entertainment shows, should not be taken too seriously.
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