Walter Binning, or Bynning was a painter in 16th-century Edinburgh.
There were several painters and glaziers called "Binning" working in Edinburgh and for the royal court in 16th-century Scotland. It has been speculatively suggested that there was some family connection with the Flemish miniature painter
Simon Bening
Simon Bening (c. 1483 – 1561) was a Flemish miniaturist, generally regarded as the last major artist of the Netherlandish tradition.
Bening, born either in Ghent or Antwerp, was probably trained by his father, illuminator Alexander Bening, i ...
.
Career
In January 1540 with two colleagues Walter Binning painted 49 guns at
Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock (Edinburgh), Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age, although the nature of the early settlement is unclear. ...
with red lead, including their breech loading chambers, slots and bands, and painted the ropes binding the guns on their stocks with tar, and 50 bass guns.
He was paid by the guild of the Hammermen of Edinburgh for painting cloths and a religious image.
He worked for Regent Arran in Edinburgh, Hamilton, and Linlithgow. In February 1549 he painted the roof or ceiling of the governor's lodging in Edinburgh, which was then located in Chambers Street. This was for the wedding of Barbara Hamilton and Lord Gordon. In October 1551 he was working at Hamilton and was provided with gold and silver leaf, a pound of
azurite
Azurite is a soft, deep-blue copper mineral produced by weathering of copper ore deposits. During the early 19th century, it was also known as chessylite, after the Type locality (geology), type locality at Chessy, Rhône, Chessy-les-Mines near ...
, a pound of
vermilion
Vermilion (sometimes vermillion) is a color, color family, and pigment most often made, since ancient history, antiquity until the 19th century, from the powdered mineral cinnabar (a form of mercury sulfide, which is toxic) and its correspondi ...
, a pound of red lead, glue (probably for distemper paints) and sheets of Lombard paper. In October 1552 he painted the Regent's lodging in Linlithgow.
In 1554, Edinburgh painters led by Walter Binning assaulted an outsider, David Workman, who had been painting a ceiling.
Shows and scenery on the Royal Mile
Walter Binning painted scenery and costume for a triumph or show at the Tron on Edinburgh's
Royal Mile
The Royal Mile () is a succession of streets forming the main thoroughfare of the Old Town of the city of Edinburgh in Scotland. The term was first used descriptively in W. M. Gilbert's ''Edinburgh in the Nineteenth Century'' (1901), des ...
to celebrate the marriage of
Mary, Queen of Scots
Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567.
The only surviving legitimate child of James V of Scot ...
and
Francis II of France
Francis II (french: François II; 19 January 1544 – 5 December 1560) was King of France from 1559 to 1560. He was also King consort of Scotland as a result of his marriage to Mary, Queen of Scots, from 1558 until his death in 1560.
He ...
, on 3 July April 1558. The wedding itself took place in Paris on 24 April 1558. The Edinburgh entertainment was written and produced by William Lauder and William Adamson. Binning painted the "play cart" for actors portraying the signs of the seven planets and cupid. There were artificial "summer trees" with fruit made from tennis balls covered with gold foil or leaf. The seven planets had been portrayed in the shows in Paris after the wedding.
In February 1562 the royal treasurer paid him £20 Scots, possibly for painting work in connection with the masques and mummery at the wedding of Lord James Stewart and Agnes Keith.
Reign of James VI
In January 1572, Walter Binning and the glaziers David Binning and Steven Loch were listed among supporters of Mary, Queen of Scots, in Edinburgh who were summoned to appear at Leith for their disloyalty to the Regent.
Walter Binning painted the new north gallery of
Holyrood Palace
The Palace of Holyroodhouse ( or ), commonly referred to as Holyrood Palace or Holyroodhouse, is the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland. Located at the bottom of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, at the opposite end to Edinbu ...
in 1577.
Walter Binning's house
Binning had a property near the High School and the old Black Friars. He paid five shillings annually for the "land" belonging to Blackfriars where he lived. In October 1567 he was asked to return building materials salvaged from the Friary to the site for the construction of a new hospital at Trinity College Kirk. Binning had made a yard or garden on part of the churchyard and the town council ordered this to be removed.
After Binning's death his house came to be the property of a stonemason, Walter Biccarton.
Glaziers and painters
In Edinburgh the craft and trade of a decorative painter overlapped with the profession of a glazier. This seems to have been usual, and in medieval Antwerp both painters and glass workers joined the Guild of St Luke.
Robert Binning glazed David's Tower and the chapel in Edinburgh castle in January 1540, and also painted and gilded carved heraldry at
Holyrood Palace
The Palace of Holyroodhouse ( or ), commonly referred to as Holyrood Palace or Holyroodhouse, is the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland. Located at the bottom of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, at the opposite end to Edinbu ...
. In August 1555 and 1559 Walter Binning was listed with the glaziers in the minutes of the Edinburgh incorporation of masons and wrights. The other were; John Sampson, Thomas Watson, Adam Symmer (or Somer), Thomas Bynning, James Hunter and John Yairds. James Hunter eventually became the king's glazier in October 1584, though Mary, Queen of Scots appointed Steven Loch first, in May 1562.
In August 1550 lead and glass was sent to
Hamilton Palace
Hamilton Palace was a country house in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Scotland. The former seat of the Dukes of Hamilton, it dated from the 14th century and was subsequently much enlarged in the 17th and 19th centuries.St Giles' Kirk, "This is the place appoyntit for publick repentence".Michael Apted & Susan Hannabuss, ''Painters in Scotland'' (SRS: Edinburgh, 1978), p. 26: Edinburgh Burgh Accouncts, vol. 1, p. 236.