In this episode, we’ll be visiting The Riders of the Sidhe By John Duncan at The McManus Dundee’s Art Gallery & Museum in Dundee, Scotland. Welcome to Art, Culture & Books with me, Anthony King.
John Duncan was born in Dundee, Scotland in 1866 and painted The Riders of the Sidhe in 1911 with Tempera on canvas. Tempera, also called egg tempera, is a long-lasting paint that dries quickly. It’s made by mixing pigments with a water-soluble binder, often egg yolk. Interestingly, although this is spelt S-I-D-H-E it’s actually pronounced “Shee”. In Celtic mythology the Sidhe are the mystical fairies. The museum tells us that the name is known locally in the Sidlaws or ‘Fairy Hills’. On the frame we read; “The riders of the sidhe. Lords of life, bearing as symbols the tree of experience the love-cup, the sword of will, and the stone of quietness”
By Anthony King (c)