Mystery over historic paintings

Experts believe Port of Leith is by A Mitchell

Questions have been raised over whether a pair of oil paintings of a historic Edinburgh port are by the same artist.

"Port of Leith" and "A View of the Port of Leith with Arthur's Seat in the Distance" have long been attributed to Edinburgh artist A Mitchell.

But a project by heritage agency Historic Scotland has suggested an unknown artist may have been responsible for the second picture.

The paintings will be displayed in Leith's Trinity House on Thursday.

Historic Scotland paintings conservator Ray Hemmett, said: "These are lovely paintings which show the port at its height towards the end of the 19th century, full of steam ships and sailing vessels of the kind that arrived there from all over the world.

"They have previously been regarded as a pair because they are alike in many ways, have similar themes and appear to be from around the same time.

"But our conservation team now believe they may have different origins after carrying out a long and detailed programme of cleaning and restoration."

While Port of Leith is signed and dated, its partner is not - and clear stylistic differences have been found between the two, the most noticeable being that the figures in the anonymous painting are better developed than those on the signed one.

Experts are unsure who painted A View of the Port of Leith with Arthur's Seat

Experts at Historic Scotland used the latest techniques to clean and restore the pictures and their frames.

Robert Wilmot, a conservation manager at the agency, said: "We are fortunate to have some of the finest conservation experts in the country and they have done a tremendous job with these paintings.

"They now look almost as sharp and vivid as when they were first hung around 125 years ago. We very much hope that our visitors will be able to enjoy them to the full for many decades to come."