Lucien de Guise on the tale of two paintings, by Craigie Aitchison and Salvador Dalí.
Scotland is not the first place that comes to mind for depictions of the Crucifixion. A more likely image is of John Knox excoriating Mary, Queen of Scots, and others for their attachment to Catholic idolatry.
The revenge of Scottish would-be idolators has been happening for a while. Voted most popular painting in Scotland on a few occasions is Salvador Dalí’s Christ of St John of the Cross. It returned recently to the Craigie Aitchisonand Museums in Glasgow after a short but triumphant appearance just south of the border in County Durham. At the same time, a Crucifixion scene by an artist from Edinburgh very nearly made a huge impression at Christie’s in London.
