Scotland Forever. The Royal Scots Greys Charge At Waterloo. Painting By Lady Elizabeth Butler. From The World's Greatest Paintings, Published By Odhams Press, London, 1934. Poster Print (20 x 10)

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The painting was exhibited at the Egyptian Hall in Piccadilly in 1881. Tzar Nicholas II of Russia and Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany both received copies and later during the First World War both the British and the Germans used the image in their propaganda material, with the Scots Greys transformed into Prussian cavalry by the Germans. [1]

Tzar Nicholas II of Russia and Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany both received copies, and later during the First World War, both the British and the Germans used the image in their propaganda material, with the Scots Greys transformed into Prussian cavalry by the Germans. Usherwood, Paul, and Jenny Spencer-Smith, (1987). – Lady Butler, Battle Artist, 1846–1933. – Gloucester: Sutton. – ISBN 0-86299-355-5 Irish Arts Review. – "The Royal Scottish Academy Exhibitors 1826–1990". – Volume 4 Number 4: Winter 1987. (Calne 1991)

After became a Roman Catholic, she initially concentrated on religious subjects. Still, upon going to Paris in 1870, she was exposed to battle scenes by famous French artists and switched her focus to war paintings. To the Front: French Cavalry Leaving a Breton City on the Declaration of War (1888–89 – Private Collection) Congress protests against Khushbu Sundar’s ‘cheri language’ remark; ‘shows how much you respect women’, says BJP leader

The painting has highly popular and was reproduced many times and is considered an iconic representation of the battle itself and heroism more generally.Her fame increased as the paintings toured Europe, along with photographs of Elizabeth. She gained even more notice because people found out that she was both young and pretty, something normally not associated with painters of battle scenes. It also helped that during this time, there was a huge swell of Victorian pride and romanticism for the growing British Empire. [2] [3] [4] While Lady Butler's topics reflected such romanticism, her paintings were generally realistic in detail, with aspects such as confusion, mud and exhaustion being accurately portrayed. Her works tend to focus on British troops shown in action, or shortly after it, but avoiding scenes of hand-to-hand combat. The troops are often shown as their opponents might have seen them, but relatively few of the opponents themselves are shown. It was the battle that changed the face of Europe: the Duke of Wellington, with his British and Allied army, defeated the Emperor Napoleon and his French Imperial Guard on 18 June 1815 at Waterloo, marking the climax of 22 years of war.

In 1815, on the vast battlefield of Waterloo, an iconic moment unfolded that would be immortalised in history and art. It was here that Elizabeth Thompson, a talented British artist, captured the essence of courage and patriotism in her masterpiece “Scotland Forever!” The painting portrayed the stirring charge of the Royal Scots Greys, a gallant British cavalry regiment, alongside their heavy cavalry comrades, as they prepared to face the chaos and uncertainty of war. The title itself, “Scotland Forever!”, derived from the resounding battle cry of the soldiers, who with hearts ablaze, shouted, “Now, my boys, Scotland forever!” before plunging fearlessly into the fray. Thompson’s artistic brilliance lay not only in her ability to depict the battle’s onset but also in her keen observations of charging horses. Interestingly enough, having never experienced a real battle, she drew inspiration from watching her husband’s regiment during their training manoeuvres. Why did the fame of “Scotland Forever!” reach far and wide, crossing national boundaries? And is it historically accurate? The Battle of Waterloo and its Significance

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Butler was inspired to paint the charge as a response to the aesthetic paintings that she saw — and intensely disliked — on a visit to the Grosvenor Gallery. She had developed a reputation for her military pictures after the favourable reception of her earlier painting The Roll Call of 1874, on a subject from the Crimean War, and her 1879 painting Remnants of an Army, on the 1842 retreat from Kabul. [1] The painting is the subject of the first episode of Malcolm Gladwell's 2016 podcast, Revisionist History, in an episode entitled "The Lady Vanishes".