Aldourie Castle before 1893

This is an anonymous engraving of Aldourie Castle, found in an early 20th-century book. The image encapsulates the Victorian and Edwardian eras’ fascination with the Scottish Highlands and their historic architecture. The image presents Aldourie Castle, a site freighted with social and cultural significance. During the 19th century, the Highlands were not only romanticized for their natural beauty but also became a stage for displays of wealth and power. The castle and surrounding grounds are visual codes that speak to land ownership, class, and the social hierarchy of the time. The image also speaks to institutional power, given how the British aristocracy influenced cultural and political life. Is this image an assertion of conservative values or a progressive look at social change? Historians consult various resources—estate records, social registers, architectural surveys—to understand these dynamics. Art like this is contingent on its social and institutional context.