meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
The Rest Is History

Greatest Paintings: Age of Enlightenment - Raeburn's Skating Minister

The Rest Is History

Goalhanger

History

4.6 • 26.6K Ratings

🗓️ 18 February 2026

⏱️ 8 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

How does Henry Raeburn’s Skating Minister represent both the Scottish Enlightenment and the Romantic movement? In what ways does subject Reverend Robert Walker’s personal history connect to the famous Dutch Golden Age? And, how did a controversy about the most reproduced image in Scotland  traumatise the Scottish national identity?  In this new The Rest Is History Club series, Tom is joined by art critic and author Laura Cumming to discuss the histories behind famous paintings and put them in their historical contexts. To hear the full episode, and all the other exclusive new episodes from Laura and Tom's paintings  series, coming out every Wednesday for the next four weeks, join The Rest is History Club at therestishistory.com To hear these exclusive new episodes from Laura and Tom every Wednesday for the next four weeks, join The Rest is History Club at ⁠therestishistory.com⁠.  NEXT WEEK… Jan 23rd: The Angelus - Jean-François Millet  _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Video Editors: Jack Meek + Harry Swan Social Producer: Harry Balden Producers: Tabby Syrett & Aaliyah Akude Executive Producer: Dom Johnson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

history. This episode is brought to you by Indeed. We are driven by the search for better.

0:08.6

But when it comes to hiring, the best way to search for a candidate isn't to search at all.

0:13.7

Don't search, match with Indeed. Indeed is your matching and hiring platform with over 350 million global monthly visitors,

0:23.2

according to Indeed data, and matching technology that helps you find quality candidates fast.

0:28.8

And Indeed doesn't just help you hire faster.

0:31.1

75% of employers claim Indeed delivers the highest quality matches compared to other online job sites.

0:38.2

Now, since you're a listener to this show, Indeed is giving you a ÂŁ100 sponsored job credit

0:45.5

to get your jobs more visibility at Indeed.com slash TRIH.

0:59.6

Terms and conditions apply. to hire you need indeed hello everyone tom holland here and i am joined by the great laura, and we are looking at painting in history,

1:13.5

four paintings that reflect a particular period in history.

1:17.8

We'll be looking at the history of the painting itself, the life of the artist,

1:21.7

and teasing out the mysteries that shadow all four paintings.

1:26.9

Today's painting, it's The Skating Minister by Henry

1:31.0

Rayburn, the most famous painting in Scottish history, a painting that tells us about the

1:37.4

Enlightenment, about romanticism, and also, of course, about skating.

1:50.6

Music also, of course, about skating. Hello everyone and welcome back to our ongoing series for you, our beloved club members on great

1:58.7

paintings, how they are situated in history, the story behind them,

2:02.9

the story of the person who painted them, all of that kind of thing. We've been to Bruges

2:07.8

in the 15th century. We've been to Madrid in the 17th century. And now we are going to Edinburgh

2:16.7

in the late 18th century and Laura coming with me.

2:22.3

Laura, you are Scottish, you are from Edinburgh and I am a Scottish landowner.

2:28.9

So basically, I'm basically Scottish as well.

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Goalhanger, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Goalhanger and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright Š Tapesearch 2026.