Robert Burns was born in 1759, and his status as a poet; songwriter and intellectual, grows rather than diminishes year by year. Not surprisingly, Scotland has named 2009 as Homecoming Scotland Year aimed at the world of Scots and lovers of Rabbie Burns to revisit their homeland and the works of its favourite son
 
To commemorate his birth 250 years ago, the Robert Burns World Federation and Stone Icons commissioned noted European sculptor David Cornell to produce his interpretation of Burns as marble and bronze life sized busts inspired by the famous Alexander Nasmyth painting now held in the National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh. A handsome man indeed…loved by many women.
 
The magic of Burns knows no boundaries. Indeed he is one of the most universally recognised and praised poets in the world….even being the favourite poet of Abraham Lincoln.
 
Two sculptures have been produced. One is hand carved in the finest marble, in which Cornell has captured a gentle Burns fit to grace any home; library or museum. The same marble carving techniques are employed that Michelangelo used….so such marbles will be family or public space heirlooms for hundreds of years into the future. The last hand carved marble of Burns was commissioned by philanthropist Andrew Carnegie in 1880.   On his death it was presented to the Scottish Nation.
 
A magificent art bronze with a lush patina is also available showing Burns,  a young man capturing the imagination of the glitterati in fashionable Edinburgh in the 17th Century. Like a few others in history, his early death keeps him young forever in our imagination.
 
More information is available at www.robertburns.tv
 
Already some international Burns organisations are fund raising to present busts to public places in their community.