Tweeddale museum, Chambers Institution
Originating in the 16th century, the Chambers Institution has an interesting history. Belonging to the Church, it was the Dean's House, and later passed to the Queensberry branch of the Douglas family. It was the birthplace of "Old Q", the 4th Duke of Queensberry, the infamous Rake of Piccadilly and ancestor of the 8th Duke who drew up the "Queensberry Rules of Boxing".
After extensive modernisation and extension the building was generously given to the town in 1859 by Dr William Chambers. He and his brother Robert, both born in the town, founded the Edinburgh publishing firm, W&R Chambers, which today is world renowned for its dictionaries and encyclopaedia. A later major extension, opened in 1911, was funded by Andrew Carnegie, the millionaire who, after making his fortune in steel production in USA, funded several thousand public libraries worldwide, including in Peebles. Later the Chambers Institution became the civic centre, and was the meeting place of the Town Council until the reform of local government in 1975. It now houses the Tweeddale museum.
The most recently opened exhibit (1990) in the Chambers Institution is the "Secret Room", displaying wall-mounted plaster friezes donated by William Chambers - a 16 metre long reproduction of portions of the Elgin Marbles, and a complete facsimile of the "Triumph of Alexander", by the Danish sculptor Bertil Thorvaldsen.
The latter frieze is extremely rare in Britain and it is usually only sections of this work that are exhibited. As far as is known the only other complete version of this work has been restored and is in the Harris Museum in Preston. The original frieze executed by Thorvaldson in 1812 (taking 3 months) for the Palazzo Quirinale which was then being decorated for the arrival of Napoleon in Rome. Marble copies were later made.
The frieze is an allegory, Napoleon’s entry into Rome being compared with Alexander the Great’s into Babylon in 551BC after his defeat of the Persian king Darius. History relates that Alexander marched on Babylon expecting to lay siege to it but was welcomed by the citizens bearing gifts and welcoming him to their city. The frieze depicts the procession and entry.
Relief sculpture especially narrative friezes, was one of the most important neoclassical developments around 1800. Whilst most made reference to Roman examples, Thorvaldson’s importance is in understanding Greek sculpture, which was only just beginning to be appreciated in its own right. The Alexander frieze contains many compositional elements from the Parthenon frieze drawings which were circulating in Rome at this time. Hence the importance of having the two together. The exact origin of the Parthenon frieze is not known. Their purpose would have been both to educate and to assist in the study of art, since drawing from classical antiquity was an essential part of artistic training at this time. Most of the large museums acquired casts of the Elgin marbles. The room originally had a large collection of plaster casts but these were destroyed after it was first closed to the public in the 1950s.