A great stag with twelve-point antlers stands alone against the mist and mountains of the Scottish Highlands, its head raised. Edwin Landseer conceived it as one of a series for the Refreshment Room of the House of Lords, and it was shown at the Royal Academy in 1851. It never hung where it was meant to. It was sold instead to the 1st Baron Londesborough and stayed in private or corporate hands for more than 160 years.

In 1916 it was bought by Thomas Dewar, and it became an advertising image, used for Pears Soap and later for whisky, Nestlé and Baxters soup. In 2017 the National Galleries of Scotland bought it, at a total cost of £4 million, thanks to a part gift from Diageo, grants and a public appeal. It is in the Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh.