The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Study to examine Mary’s enduring appeal
With a whole generation of film-goers about to learn the story of the monarch, a team of academics are studying her enduring appeal more than 400 years on.
The Glasgow University project has brought together 40 academics and curators from across the world to better understand how her legacy has impacted on Scottish society and culture in the centuries since.
Despite only reigning for six years, Queen Mary has been depicted in popular culture and immortalised in music, books, plays, art and on coins and medals.
And since the dawn of cinema, the 16th Century queen’s story continues to be told and retold on the silver screen, beginning with the 18 second short film The Execution Of Mary Stuart in 1895.
The film, produced by inventor Thomas Edison, is credited as the first to use special effects.
Steven Reid, a Scottish historian based at the university, and Anne Dulau-Beveridge, a curator at The Hunterian, have been awarded funding for two years.
Mr Reid said: “Our project will look at what is it about Mary’s life and her story that gives it such appeal and endurance and why she remains such a source of fascination and debate.
“We’ll also look at why historians, authors and artists continue to reimagine her.
“To date, there have only been a handful of works exploring Mary’s posthumous reputation.
“This project will undertake a detailed and holistic assessment of Mary’s reputation and depiction in popular culture, from the end of her personal reign in Scotland through to the present.”
Already the team has found hundreds of relevant objects and artefacts in its own archives and special collections, as well as The Hunterian’s.
This includes a rare medal commemorating her marriage to Lord Darnley in 1565 and a Mary Queen of Scots Thirty-Shilling Piece from 1555.