National Museum of Scotland to host Mary, Queen of Scots exhibition

The National Museum of Scotland will host a major new exhibition titled ‘Mary, Queen of Scots: Renaissance and Resistance’ from June 12 to November 14, 2027. The showcase will feature approximately 100 objects and loans from across Europe, including items that have never been displayed in Scotland before.

The exhibition aims to challenge traditional perceptions of Mary, Queen of Scots, which often focus on her execution and her image dressed in black. Instead, curators intend to present her as a sophisticated Renaissance monarch who operated on a European stage. Highlights include a portrait by Francois Clouet showing her in pink with pearls, the Penicuik jewels, and a silver casket believed to have contained correspondence and sonnets related to her downfall.

Scheduled to explore the decade between her return to Scotland in 1561 and her forced abdication in 1567, the exhibition will examine the impact of the Protestant Reformation, religious revolution, and political conflict on her reign.