Ceiling panel from Dean House, Edinburgh - showing the Sense of Sight

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This panel is one of a series which made up a painted ceiling in the great hall at Dean House in Edinburgh. Seven panels have survived from the ceiling which was painted between 1605 and 1627.

The seated lady with the looking glass represents the Sense of Sight against the landscape of Edinburgh. Arthur's Seat, the Canongate, the High Street and St Giles are to the left, the castle to the right.

Dean House stood on the site of what is now Dean Cemetery in Edinburgh. Dean House, with its crowstepped gable, was built in 1614 for the Nisbets of Dean. William Nisbet of Dean, Lord Provost of Edinburgh, was knighted by James VI in 1617. The house was used as a romantic setting for James Ballantyne's novel Miller of Deanhaugh.

Record details

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• Online ID: 000-100-000-627-C
• Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
• Project: National Museums Scotland
  Project description   View all records in project
• Ref: National Museums Scotland  H.KL 72 A - C
• Date: 1605 - 1627
  Between 1605 and 1627
  
• Material: Wood, painted
  Panel, ceiling
  
• Dimensions: 708 mm x 1089 mm / 851 mm x 1028 mm / 901 mm x 917 mm / 40 mm Th
  
• What: Panel, ceiling
  
• Subject: Carved woodwork, painted ceilings (NMAS Classification)
  
• Who: C.K. Sharpe Collection
  
• Where: Scotland, Midlothian, Edinburgh, Dean House
  
• Event:
• Description: Three of seven painted ceiling panels from Dean House, Edinburgh, showing personifications of the senses of taste, hearing and sight, painted between 1605 and 1627
  
• References:
• Translations:
• Related Records: