The red sandstone building, a few blocks from the National Gallery and a few more from the Medieval Golden Mile, considers itself a portrait of Scotland. And it is, in its own way.

The Scots have made some very creative choices putting this museum together and have put wildly different types of portraits side by side, from the classic royal portraiture of James IV of Scotland from 1507, to the recent rock-star mega-photo of QueenElizabeth II.The comedy greats aisle has Big Yin (Billy Connolly), and not far from there is the death-mask of Dolly the first cloned sheep. It’s a look in on Scotland through an unlikely parade of notable Scots in science (Peter Higgs of the Higgs boson), medicine, culture (Sean Connery), and sports. Organizing things by field is cool, it lets you see the links and evolution of Scottish contribution to art, science, comedy, and more. And it’s no small contribution.

The Board of Trustees for Fisheries, Manufactures and Improvements in Scotland, established in 1727 and responsible for Scottish industrial policy, is an unlikely patron of the arts. Still, and for reasons unclear to me, it played a major role in conceiving the gallery. But the Board lacked funds and the British government wouldn’t give them any, so they turned to John Ritchie Findlay, who after first going bankrupt eventually became the chief proprietor of The Scotsman newspaper and came into lots of family money. He paid for the construction and an endowment, and masterminded the building.

The Board had another problem, however. It had a small collection for a large building, and no portraits of 19^th century Scots. We’re lucky for the solution it found. The board hired one William Hole to create a mural illustrating Scottish history in the two story-high main hall. Hole took the commission to heart and toured France and Italy with a chemist to learn the latest fresco techniques. He then spent three years painting a procession of 150 famous Scots high above our heads, on the balustrade of the first floor galley.The mural is drop dead gorgeously golden, lit softly through the high arched windows. Hole was a keen astronomer and topped off the hall with a brilliant zodiac ceiling.