Edinburgh from Leith Roads

Samuel Bough 1822 - 1878

Summary

Dramatic seascape depicting ships and boats battling a fierce storm. In the foreground, a number of fishermen aboard a rowing boat reach out towards the wreckage of a mast in the water, and to the left, a man overboard. To the left of the composition, sailors fight against the wind aboard a ship; sails billowing. Close by, a second ship tilts on the waves. To the far right, more vessels battle against the storm, and in the distance, a harbour and mountains can be seen on the horizon. The sky above is heavy and dark, but for a break in the clouds where the sun's rays cast light over the distant landscape.

Display Label

Edinburgh from Leith Roads 1854 Samuel Bough 1822–78 Oil on canvas Sam Bough, as he preferred to be known, was a Carlisle-born artist who lived in Scotland. He affected a bluff, genial persona, drinking heavily and talking plainly. Bough’s contemporaries admired his paintings, finding them to be like the man himself: masculine and powerful, but sometimes ‘common’. This painting is a characteristic Bough work: its expressive sky and turbulant sea convey the grandeur of nature using a limited, grey-toned palette. Leith Roads is the stretch of the Firth of Forth that runs parallel to Leith, Edinburgh’s port town. Jesse Haworth bequest 1937.125