Trongate by William Simpson (1823-1899). A policeman stands in the foreground, left.
The watercolour is based on a sketch completed in 1849 and shows the view looking east along Trongate from a spot just west of the corners with King Street (right) and Candleriggs (left). The Tolbooth Steeple and, in the distance, the Tron Steeple stand out clearly and are familiar features to modern-day Glaswegians. Sir John Moore, the "Hero of Corunna", was born in Donald's Land, the tenement building to the left of the three-gabled house opposite the Tron Steeple.
This watercolour is one of fifty-five painted by Simpson between 1893 and 1898. The series is based on sketches he completed fifty years earlier which appeared as black and white illustrations in Views and Notices of Glasgow in Former Times, published in 1848 by Allan & Ferguson.
Reference: 892s/ 1989.2.s
Reproduced with the permission of Glasgow City Council, Glasgow Museums
Keywords:
Allan & Ferguson, artists, Battle of Corunna, children, Donald's Land, horses, lamp-posts, paintings, police officers, policemen, shopping, shops, soldiers, steeples, streetscenes, tenements, Tolbooth Steeple, Tron Steeple, watercolours, women