Carved in a fine-textured Portuguese granite this sculpture portrays the suffering of Christ. All of Rae’s earliest sculptures were inspired by religious themes. This emotive work is carved to a smooth finish which adds to serenity of the sad curled figure.
To see a short video of Ronald Rae talking about this sculpture click on the link below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksCIPWPB0nI
To see a video of Man of Sorrows being installed at its new home in Warwickshire click on the link below
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pPMQhO3h_U
Granite: 7x10x5ft 10.00 tons. Location: The Falkirk Wheel. For Sale.
Heavy Horse and Foal
The Heavy Horse and Foal took the sculptor over a year to carve using hand tools only. The pink Corrennie granite comes from Aberdeenshire and has been dated at 460 million years old. The sculpture was on loan to the Crinan Canal for three years. If you wish to know more about this unique work please email pauline@ronaldrae.co.uk
The sculpture celebrates horses being part of the heritage of canals remembered for pulling the barges before the Industrial Revolution. The Heavy Horse and Foal also expresses the love of animals for their young.
To see a short video of the sculpture being installed at Crinan where it was on exhibition for three years go to the right margin, under Latest News on Video click on Ronald Rae’s Heavy Horse and Foal at Crinan.
Granite: 5x11x3ft. 6.00 tons. Location: National Trust for Scotland, Threave Gardens, Dumfries and Galloway. Sold. After being on loan to the NTS for three years St. Francis will now be staying on at Threave due to the generosity of long term NTS members George and Sue Thomas.
Photography by Lenny Warren.
THREAVE GARDEN SCULPTURE EXHIBITION 2012.
On Saturday 23rd June 2012 Kate Mavor, the Chief Executive of the National Trust for Scotland unveiled Ronald Rae’s St. Francis sculpture and opened the second Threave Garden Sculpture Exhibition showing works by several Scottish based sculptors in the formal garden at Threave. The exhibition continues till May 2013. A catalogue of the exhibition is available at the Visitor Centre.
In the summer of 2011 Ronald Rae opened the first Threave Sculpture Garden Exhibition. He spoke passionately about the potential of displaying larger sculptures at Threave and offered the NTS one of his works on loan. The NTS jumped at this wonderful opportunity. It was agreed that St. Francis would be perfect in this garden setting because of the saint’s love of Nature – birds in particular. Birdsong is the first sound one hears on entering Threave Garden.
George Thomas, from NTS Threave Garden who organised this project said ” I am absolutely delighted to have been involved with Ronald Rae’s incredibly generous gesture of lending St. Francis to Threave Garden. He has chosen a stunning piece entirely in keeping with the site. It undoubtedly creates a unique feature in the garden which will give pleasure to visitors and act as a focus of widespread interest.”
This emotive work depicts St. Francis lying in retreat on “that rugged rock twixt Tiber and Arno” as Dante described La Verna. The sculpture shows the saint surrounded by the birds that he loved and preached to. Brother Wolf is carved on the other side of the stone. Legend has it that St. Francis saved the village of Gubbio from being ravished of its flocks by persuading the people to feed the fierce hungry wolf. In return for this kindness the wolf became a friend to everyone and a follower of St. Francis and thereafter called Brother Wolf.
It has been written that on this mountainside St. Francis took on the stigmata – the wounds of Christ. In his sculpture Rae has given Brother Wolf the stigmata. Legend also says that when St. Francis died Brother Wolf was at his side.
The St. Francis stone from Tillyfourie Quarry in Aberdeenshire is of great geological interest being a mix of pink and silver-grey granite and dark grey basalt that fused together when the Earth was being formed. For this stone that happened 470 million years ago!
To see a short video of St. Francis being installed see News heading at the top margin of the Home page.
This photo was taken during the hard winter of 2011. Rarely does one see snow on the beach.
To see a short video of the setting of this work go to the right hand margin and under Latest News on Video
click on Ronald Rae visits his Cramond Fish.
Granite: 7x11x5 ft. 10.00 tons. Location: The Falkirk Wheel. For Sale.
Elephant Family
On one side of the stone is the matriarch and on the other the patriarch and baby. This much-loved endangered species is a subject that Rae has addressed eight times in his sculpture. To see a video about this work scroll down.
The stone is of great geological interest being a patchwork of pink and grey granite dated 470 million years old from Corrennie Quarry in Aberdeenshire.
Ronald Rae at the Falkirk Wheel
To see more footage of Ronald Rae with his sculptures at The Falkirk Wheel go to the right margin of this page and under Latest News on Video, click Ronald Rae at his Falkirk Wheel Exhibition Part One, Two and Three.
Granite 7 x 10 x 6ft 8.00 tonnes Location: Cramond Waterfront. Sold.
The Cramond Fish
A local community fundraising campaign resulted in the purchase of the Cramond Fish in April 2009 – a heartwarming experience for the sculptor who spent twenty years carving his sculptures in the grounds of Cramond Kirk. The Fish is now a landmark and looks as if it has been on the beach forever. It has been described as a wonderful evocation of the sea and marine life. It is also the earliest symbol of Christianity.
To see a short video of Ronald Rae talking about this sculpture go to Latest News on Video on the right margin and click on Ronald Rae visits his Cramond Fish.
Granite: 7x12x3ft 9.00 tons. Location: The Falkirk Wheel. For Sale.
Bison
Carved in relief in Corrennie pink granite this work was inspired by prehistoric cave art. Rae carved out the background and left the image of the bison on the natural surface of the stone. The drill hole was his first point of reference for the nostril.
Ronald Rae at the Falkirk Wheel
To see more footage of Ronald Rae with his sculptures at The Falkirk Wheel go to the right margin of this page and under Latest News on Video, click Ronald Rae at his Falkirk Wheel Exhibition Part One, Two and Three.
Rae was motivated to carve this sculpture having seen wild boars in the forests of Germany. Wild boars also roamed Britain in ancient times and are found incised on Pictish stones. The image of the Wild Boar in Celtic art symbolised hospitality and feasting as well as hunting. Rae worked on the sculpture during a very wet winter, literally slipping and sliding in the mud whilst carving it – and grunting – just like a wild boar! Perhaps this is why the sculpture is the very essence of a wild boar.
It is a well-loved sculpture – when on exhibition at Newby Hall, children left apple cores at its snout.
Granite: 5x8x4ft 4.00 tons. Location: The Falkirk Wheel. For Sale.
Ox
The emblem of St. Luke, the patron saint of healing. The ox is the beast of burden and of hard labour in the fields. The ox also witnessed the birth of Christ.
To see a short video that includes this sculpture go to Latest News on Video at the right hand column of this page and click Ronald Rae at his Falkirk Wheel Exhibition Part Two.
Hand-carved granite sculptures in public and private collections
