Port na Curachan, Iona. William Bell Scott. 1887. Oil on canvas, 56 x 73.7 cm. Collection of National Gallery of Scotland, accession no. NG2368. Click on image to enlarge it.
The Port na Curachan (Bay of the Coracle) is at the southern tip of Iona, which is just off the Isle of Mull on the west coast of Scotland. The area is famous for its unspoilt beauty and it was one of Scott’s favourite places to paint. He painted there on a number of occasions. This painting was begun on September 10, 1887 and Scott continued to work on it until the year before his death but he never quite completed it. There is a preparatory watercolour study for the painting in the National Gallery of Scotland.
Iona is the island where according to legend St. Columbia and his twelve followers landed after sailing from Ireland in 563 AD. It was likely the location chosen for one of Alice Boyd’s best-known oil paintings St. Columbia’s Farewell to the White Horse of 1868.
Last modified 7 February 2022