,illustration3 ,cover art               
,,masterpieces   ,,in ,,colour          
,,edited ,,by --   ,t4 ,,leman ,,hare   
,,raeburn  #agef-ahbc       ,,plate     
,i4--,,lord ,,newton 7,frontispiece74   
7,national ,gallery of ,scotland47      
,this chef-d'oeuvre1 which dates from   
about #ahjg1 represents one of the most 
celebrated characters who ever sat upon 
the bench of the ,court of ,session4    
,famous in his day for law1 paunch1     
whist1 claret1 and worth1 the exploits  
of ,charles ,hay1 ,the ,mighty1 as he   
was called1 have become traditions of   
the ,parliament ,house4  7,see p4 #gi47 
,illustration3 ,plate ,i4     ,,raeburn 
,,by ,,james ,l4 ,,caw   ,,illustrated  
,,with ,,eight  ,,reproductions ,,in    
,,colour    ,illustration3 ,title page  
art    ,,london3 ,t4 ,c4  ,e4 ,c4 ,,jack
  ,,new ,,york3 ,,frederick ,a4 ,,stokes
 ,,co4  #aiji     ,,contents            
,introduction   ,chapter ,i4            
,,ii4        ,,iii4         ,,iv4       
,v4         ,,vi4     ,,list ,,of       

,,illustrations   ,plate      ,i4 ,lord 
,newton 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 
4 4 4 ,frontispiece          7,national 
,gallery of ,scotland7     ,,ii4        
,children of ,mr and the ,hon4 ,mrs     
,paterson of ,castle ,huntly            
7,in the possession of ,chas4 ,j4 ,g4   
,paterson1 ,esq47    ,,iii4 ,mrs ,lauzun
          7,national ,gallery1 ,london7 
,,iv4 ,mrs ,campbell of ,balliemore     
7,national ,gallery of ,scotland7       
,v4 ,professor ,robison                 
7,university of ,edinburgh7     ,,vi4   
,john ,tait of ,harvieston and his      
,grandson          7,in the possession  
of ,mrs ,pitman7    ,,vii4 ,miss de     
,vismes          7,in the possession of 
the ,earl of ,mansfield7   ,,viii4 ,mrs 
,scott ,moncrieff          7,national   
,gallery of ,scotland7                  
,illustration3 ,raeburn  ,when in #ahaj1
 ,henry ,raeburn1 then at the height of 
his powers1 proposed to settle in       
,london1 ,lawrence dissuaded him4  ,it  
is unnecessary1 as it would be unjust1  

to insinuate that the future ,president 
of the ,royal ,academy had ulterior and 
personal motives in urging him to rest  
content with his supremacy in the       
,north4  ,raeburn was fifty-five at the 
time1 and1 after his undisputed reign at
 home1 even his generous nature might   
have taken ill with the competition     
inseparable from such a venture4        
,lawrence's advice was wise in many     
ways1 and ,raeburn1 secure in the       
admiration and constant patronage of his
 countrymen1 lived his life to the end  
unvexed by the petty jealousy of        
inferior rivals4  ,nor was recognition  
confined to ,scotland4  ,ultimately he  
was elected a member of the ,royal      
,academy1 an honour all the more valued 
because unsolicited4  ,yet1 had the     
courtly ,lawrence but known1 acceptance 
of his advice kept a greater than       
himself from ,london1 and1 it may be1   
prevented the perpetuation and further  
development of that tradition of noble  
portraiture of which ,raeburn1 with     

personal modifications1 was such a      
master4  ,for long also it confined the 
,scottish painter's reputation to his   
own country4  ,forty years after his    
death1 his art was so little known in   
,england that the ,redgraves1 in their  
admirable history of ,english painting1 
relegated him to a chapter headed ,the  
,contemporaries of ,lawrence4  ,time    
brings its revenges1 however1 and of    
late years ,raeburn has taken a place in
 the very front rank of ,british        
painters4  ,and1 if this recognition has
 been given tardily by ,english critics1
 the reason is to be found in want of   
acquaintance with his work4  ,he had    
lived and painted solely in ,scotland1  
and ,scottish art1 like foreign art1 so 
long as it remains at home1 has little  
interest for ,london1 which1 sure of its
 attractive power1 sits arrogantly still
 till art is brought to it4  ,but       
,raeburn's work possesses that inherent 
power1 which1 seen by comprehending     
eyes1 compels admiration4  ,the ,raeburn

 exhibition held in ,edinburgh in #ahgf 
was quite local in its influence1 but   
from time to time since then1 at ,the   
,old ,masters and elsewhere1 admirable  
examples have been shown in ,london2 and
 recent loan collections in ,glasgow and
 ,edinburgh1 wherein his achievement was
 very fully illustrated1 were seen by   
large and cosmopolitan audiences4 ,and  
the better his work has become known1   
the more has it been appreciated4       
,collectors and galleries at home and   
abroad are now anxious to secure        
examples2 dealers are as alert to buy as
 they are keen to sell2 prices have     
risen steadily from the very modest sums
 of twenty years ago until fine pictures
 by him fetch as much as representative 
specimens of ,reynolds and              
,gainsborough4  ,fashion has had much to
 do with this greatly enhanced          
reputation1 but another1 and more       
commendable cause of the appreciation1  
not of the commercial value but of the  
artistic merit of his work1 lies in the 

fact that the qualities which dominate  
it are those now held in highest esteem 
by artists and lovers of art4  ,isolated
 though he was1 ,raeburn expressed      
himself in a manner and achieved        
pictorial results which make his        
achievement somewhat similar in kind to 
that of ,velasquez and ,hals4    ,,plate
 ,,ii4--,,children ,,of ,,mr ,,and ,,the
 ,,hon4 ,,mrs ,,paterson ,,of ,,castle  
,,huntly4 7,charles ,j4 ,g4 ,paterson1  
,esq47  ,painted within a year or two of
 ,raeburn's return from ,italy1 some    
critics have seen1 or thought they saw1 
in this picture the influence of        
,michael ,angelo4  ,be this as it may1  
the handling1 lighting1 and tone and    
disposition of the colour are eminently 
characteristic of much of the work done 
by ,raeburn about #agij4  ,illustration3
 ,plate ,,ii4       ,i  ,if1 during the 
last century1 ,scotland has shown       
exceptional activity in the arts1       
especially in painting1 and has produced
 a succession of artists whose work is  

marked by able craftsmanship and        
emotional and subjective qualities1     
which give it a distinctive place in    
modern painting1 the more than two      
hundred years which lay between the     
,reformation and the advent of ,raeburn 
seemed to hold little promise of        
artistic development4  ,during the      
,middle ,ages and the renaissance the   
internal condition of the country was   
too unsettled and its resources were too
 meagre to make art widely possible4    
,strong castles and beautiful churches  
were built here and there1 but          
intermittent war on the borders and fear
 of invasion kept even the more settled 
central districts in a state of unrest4 
,moreover1 the fierce barons were at    
constant feud amongst themselves1 and   
not infrequently the more powerful      
amongst them were banded against the    
,king4  ,of the first five ,jameses only
 the last died1 and that miserably1 in  
his bed4  ,the innate taste of the      
,stewarts1 no doubt1 created an         

atmosphere of culture in the ,court1 and
 this tendency was further strengthened 
by commercial relations with the ,low   
,countries and political associations   
with ,france4  ,poetry and scholarship  
were encouraged1 if poorly rewarded--one
 remembers ,dunbar's unavailing poetical
 pleas for a benefice--and relics and   
old records show that even in those     
stirring times life was not without its 
refinements and tasteful accessories4   
,yet only in the ,church or for her     
service was there the quietude necessary
 for art work of the higher kinds4      
,then came the ,reformation 7during     
which much fine ecclesiastical furniture
 and decoration perished7 severing the  
connection of art with religion and     
sowing distrust of art in any form4     
,had the ,union of the ,crowns not taken
 place in #afjc1 it is possible that the
 art of painting might have developed   
much earlier than it did4 ,no doubt that
 event brought healing to the long open 
sore caused and inflamed by kingly      

ambitions and national animosities1 but 
it removed the ,court to ,london1 and   
with that some of the greatest nobles1  
while the change in the religion of the 
ruling house from ,presbyterianism to   
,episcopacy1 which followed1 led to the 
,covenants and the religious            
persecution1 and drove the iron of      
ascetism into the souls of those classes
 from whom artists mostly spring4  ,yet 
the logical rigidity of the ,calvinistic
 spirit1 while taking much of the joy   
out of life and opposing its            
manifestation in art1 had certain       
compensating advantages4 ,disciplining  
the mind1 quickening the reasoning      
powers1 and cultivating that grasp of   
essentials which makes for success in   
almost any pursuit1 and not least in    
art1 it helped very largely to make the 
,scot what he is4  ,during the peaceful 
years which immediately followed the    
,union1 there was considerable activity 
in the building of country residences4  
,now that the country was more settled  

these were less castles than mansions1  
and the larger and better lighted       
apartments possible led to a good deal  
of elaborate decoration4  ,of this      
,pinkie ,house 7#afac7 with its painted 
gallery is perhaps the most celebrated  
example4  ,it is difficult1 however1 to 
determine how much of this kind of work 
was done by foreign1 how much by native 
craftsmen1 and as it seems to have      
exerted little influence upon the one or
 two picture-painters who emerged during
 the seventeenth century1 one need not  
discuss the probabilities4  ,so far as  
has been discovered1 the only link      
between this phase of art and the other 
consists of the fact that ,george       
,jamesone 7#aeih8-afdd71 the first      
clearly recognisable ,scottish artist1  
was apprenticed in #afab to one ,john   
,andersone paynter in ,edinburgh1 whose 
decoration in ,gordon ,castle is        
mentioned by an old chronicler4 ,as     
might be expected in the circumstances  
the ,scottish ,van ,dyck1 as he is      

fondly called1 was a portrait-painter4  
,he was followed by a few others1 such  
as the ,scougall family1 ,aikman        
,marshall1 ,wait1 and the two           
,alexanders1 who1 although neither so   
accomplished nor so much appreciated as 
their precursor1 form a never quite     
broken succession of portraitists       
between him and ,allan ,ramsay          
7#agac-hd7 in whose work art in         
,scotland took a great step forward4#a  
,a few of ,ramsay's predecessors had    
succeeded in supplementing the meagre   
instruction--if any thing that existed  
could be dignified by that name--to be  
obtained in ,scotland by a visit to the 
,low ,countries or ,italy1 but ,ramsay  
was the first to obtain a sound         
technical training4  ,the author of ,the
 ,gentle ,shepherd1 to whom ,edinburgh  
was indebted for its first circulating  
library and its first play-house1       
encouraged his son's bent for art1 and  
after some preliminary study in ,london1
 ,allan fils was sent to ,the seat of   

the ,beast beyond the ,alps1 where he   
became a pupil of ,solimena and         
,imperiale and of the ,french ,academy4 
,formed under these influences1 his     
style possesses no clearly marked       
national trait1 except it be the feeling
 for character which informs his finer  
work and makes it1 in a way1 a link     
between that of ,jamesone and that of   
,raeburn4  ,to this he added a delicate 
sense of tone and a tenderness of colour
 and lighting1 a gracefulness of drawing
 and a refined accomplishment which were
 new in ,scottish painting4  ,his turn  
for charm of pose and grace of motive   
was pronounced1 and his portraitures    
mirror very happily the mannered yet    
elegant social airs of the              
mid-eighteenth century4  ,more than that
 of any ,english painter of his day1 his
 art possesses ,french elegance4        
,,plate ,,iii4--,,mrs ,,lauzun4         
7,national ,gallery47  ,only one of the 
three ,raeburns in the ,national        
,gallery is an adequate example4  ,this 

is the picture reproduced4  ,it was     
painted in #agie1 and1 while very       
typical technically1 possesses greater  
charm than most of the portraits of     
women executed by him at that           
comparatively early date4               
,illustration3 ,plate ,,iii4            
,ramsay's activity as a painter         
coincided with a remarkable intellectual
 movement which1 making itself felt in  
history1 philosophy1 science1 and       
political economy1 raised ,scotland     
within a few years to a conspicuous     
intellectual place in ,europe4  ,a      
product of the reaction which followed  
the narrow and intense theological      
ideals which had dominated ,scotland1 it
 was closely associated with the reign  
of the ,moderates1 who1 with their      
breadth of view1 tolerance1 and         
intellectual gifts had become the most  
influential party in the ,national      
,church4  ,offering an outlet for the   
human instincts and secular activities1 
it possessed special attraction for     

independent minds and induced boldness  
of speculation and original             
investigation of the phenomena of       
history and society4 ,intimate with the 
leaders in this movement1 ,ramsay1      
before he left ,edinburgh for ,london1  
was active in the formation 7#aged7 of  
the ,select ,society1 which in addition 
to its main object--the improvement of  
its members in reasoning and            
eloquence--sought to encourage the arts 
and sciences and to improve the material
 and social condition of the people4    
,it was in this more genial atmosphere  
that ,henry ,raeburn was reared4  ,born 
in #agef1 ,raeburn was not too late to  
paint many of the most gifted of the    
older generation4  ,david ,hume1 who sat
 to ,ramsay more than once1 was dead    
before the new light rose above the     
horizon1 and the appearance of ,adam    
,smith does not seem to be recorded     
except in a ,tassie medallion2 but      
,black1 the father of modern chemistry1 
and ,hutton1 the originator of modern   

geology1 were amongst his early sitters2
 and fine works in a more mature manner 
have ,principal ,robertson1 ,james      
,watt1 the engineer1 ,adam ,ferguson1   
the historian1 ,dugald ,stewart1 the    
philosopher1 and others scarcely less   
interesting for subject4  ,and of his   
own immediate contemporaries--the cycle 
of ,walter ,scott--he has left an almost
 complete gallery4  ,nor were his       
sitters less fortunate4  ,if they       
brought fine heads to be painted1 he    
painted them with wonderful insight     
grasp of character1 and great pictorial 
power4    #a ,j4 ,michael ,wright       
7#afbe8-agjj871 at his best probably the
 finest native painter of the           
seventeenth century1 went to ,england4  
,,ii4  ,descended from a race of        
bonnet-lairds1 who took their name from 
a hill farm in the ,border district1    
,robert ,raeburn1 the artist's father1  
seems to have come to ,edinburgh as a   
young man in the earlier part of the    
eighteenth century4  ,at that time the  

city had expanded but little beyond the 
limits marked by the ,flodden wall4     
,the high grey lands along the windy    
ridge between the ,castle and ,holyrood 
were still tenanted by the upper        
classes1 and such extension as had been 
was towards the ,meadows4  ,the new town
 had not been projected even1 and on the
 slopes1 now occupied by its spacious   
streets and squares1 copse-woods and    
grass and heather grew4  ,in the hollow 
at the foot of these green braes1 and by
 the side of the ,water of ,leith1 a    
chain of little hamlets--,dean1         
,stockbridge1 and ,canon-mills--nestled1
 and in the mid-most of these ,robert   
,raeburn established himself as a       
yarn-boiler4 ,although in the country1  
his home was less than a mile from ,st  
,giles's ,kirk4  ,his business appears  
to have prospered1 and during the early 
forties he married ,miss ,ann ,elder4   
,there was a difference of twelve years 
in the ages of their two sons1 ,william 
and ,henry1 and the younger was no more 

than six when both father and mother    
died4  ,left to the care of his brother1
 who carried on the business1 ,henry    
,raeburn was nominated for maintenance  
and education at ,heriot's ,hospital by 
,mrs ,sarah ,sandilands or ,durham in   
#agfd1 and remained seven years in the  
school1 which owed its origin to the    
bequest of ,george ,heriot1 jeweller to 
,james ,,vi4 and ,i4 in ,edinburgh and  
later in ,london4  ,many boys had been  
educated on ,jingling ,geordie's        
foundation1 but ,raeburn was to be its  
most distinguished product4  ,he does   
not seem to have distinguished himself  
specially as a scholar1 however1 the two
 prizes awarded to him having been for  
writing1 and at the age of fifteen or   
sixteen he was apprenticed to a jeweller
 and goldsmith in ,parliament ,close4   
,this choice of a calling was probably  
suggested by the lad's own inclinations1
 but it was a stroke of good fortune    
that gave him ,james ,gilliland as a    
master4  ,no craft then practised in the

 ,scottish capital was so likely to have
 been congenial to him4  ,in the        
eighteenth century a silversmith made as
 well as sold plate and ornaments1 and  
in his master's shop ,raeburn must have 
learned to use his hands and may have   
acquired some idea of design4  ,in      
addition ,gilliland seems to have been a
 man of some taste--one of his most     
intimate friends1 ,david ,deuchar1 the  
seal-engraver1 devoted his leisure to   
etching1 and executed many plates after 
,holbein and the ,dutch masters4  ,it   
was to the latter that ,raeburn owed his
 first lessons in art4  ,surprising his 
friend's apprentice at work on a drawing
 of himself1 ,deuchar1 struck by the    
talent displayed1 inquired if he had had
 any instruction4  ,no1 he had not1     
wished he had1 but could not afford it1 
the youth replied2 and ,deuchat's offer 
to give him a lesson once or twice a    
week was accepted eagerly4  ,the story  
is pleasant and circumstantial enough to
 be credible2 and the existence of an   

early ,raeburn miniature of ,deuchar is 
evidence of the existence of friendship 
between the two4  ,but1 as a free       
drawing-school had been founded in #agfj
 by the ,honourable the ,board of       
,manufactures for the precise object of 
encouraging and improving design for    
manufactures1 the impossibility of      
,raeburn receiving instructions of some 
kind was less than seems to be implied4 
,it is true1 of course1 that the        
teaching then given was exceedingly     
elementary1 and that it was not until   
after the appointment in #agih of ,john 
,graham#a 7#aged-ahag7 as preceptor that
 the ,trustees' ,academy was developed  
and began to exercise a definite and    
indeed a profound influence on ,scottish
 painting4  ,from #agga1 the year in    
which ,raeburn left ,heriot's1 until his
 death1 ,alexander ,runciman 7#agcf-he71
 the ,sir ,brimstone of a convivial club
 of the day and an artist of great      
ambition and some gifts1 if little real 
accomplishment1 in history painting1 was

 master1 however1 and tradition has it  
that ,raeburn took the tone of his      
colour from that painter's work4  ,but  
no record exists of ,raeburn having been
 a pupil of the school1 and he does not 
appear to have received any more        
training than was involved in the       
relationships with his master and his   
master's friend which have been         
described4 ,even subsequent introduction
 to ,david ,martin 7#agcg-ih71 who      
settled in ,edinburgh in #agge1 when    
,raeburn was nineteen1 meant little     
more4  ,by that time1 or little later1  
he had almost certainly come to an      
arrangement under which his master      
cancelled his indenture1 and received as
 compensation a share in the prices     
received for the miniatures to which    
,raeburn now chiefly devoted himself1   
and for which ,gilliland probably helped
 to secure commissions4  ,these         
miniatures1 of which few have survived1 
recognisable as his work at least1      
possess no very marked artistic         

qualities4  ,drawn with care and not    
without considerable sense  of          
construction1 they are tenderly modelled
 but not stippled1 and the colour is    
cool and rather negative in character4  
,the frank way in which the sitters are 
regarded1 and the lighting and placing  
of the heads are almost the only        
elements which hint their authorship4   
,they are simple and straight-forward   
likenesses rather than works of art and 
bear no obvious relationship to the     
elegant bibelots or deeply-searched     
portraits in little of the contemporary 
,english school of miniaturists4  ,but  
obviously they were some preparation for
 the development which followed1 when1  
soon afterwards and almost at once1 he  
passed from water-colour miniature to   
life-size portraiture in oil paint4     
,,plate ,,iv4--,,mrs ,,campbell ,,of    
,,balliemore4  7,national ,gallery of   
,scotland47  ,this is one of the finest 
of the many fine portraits by ,raeburn  
in the ,edinburgh ,gallery4  ,its place 

in the artist's work is discussed on    
page #fc4  ,illustration3 ,plate ,,iv4  
,the rapid expansion of ,edinburgh      
provided new opportunities and helped to
 ,raeburn's early success4  ,when he was
 eight years old the building of the    
,north ,bridge1 which was to connect the
 old city with the projected new town on
 the other side of the valley1 was      
begun1 and by the time he attained his  
majority many of the well-to-do had     
migrated4 ,the new district meant bigger
 houses and larger rooms1 and1 with the 
increase in wealth which followed the   
commercial and agricultural development 
of the country of which the city was the
 capital1 led to alterations in the     
habits and expansion of the ideals of   
its inhabitants4  ,it was probably the  
opening for an artist offered by these  
altered circumstances which had brought 
,martin to ,edinburgh1 and certainly    
,raeburn was fortunate in that his      
emergence coincided with them4  ,an     
attractive and clever lad devoting      

himself to art in a community increasing
 in wealth and expanding in ideas1 and  
with a sympathetic master coming in     
contact with the upper classes1 ,raeburn
 could not fail to make acquaintances   
able and willing to help him4 ,amongst  
these was ,john ,clerk1 younger of      
,eldin1 later a famous advocate1 through
 whom the young artist got into touch   
with the ,penicuik family which for     
several generations had been notable for
 its interest in the arts4  ,and this   
would lead to other introductions4    #a
 ,sir ,david ,wilkie1 ,sir ,william     
,allan1 and others were pupils of       
,graham4     ,,iii4  ,the influences    
which affected ,raeburn and the models  
upon which he formed either his style or
 his method are difficult to trace4     
,allan ,ramsay1 having painted many     
portraits in ,edinburgh before he went  
to ,london in the same year as ,raeburn 
was born1 would be1 one would think1 the
 most likely source of inspiration4     
,except ,runciman1 who occasionally     

varied historical subjects by portraits 
painted in a broad but somewhat empty   
manner1 and ,seaton1 an artist of whom  
little is known but whose rare and      
seldom seen portraits possess a breadth 
of handling and a simplicity of design  
which give the best of them a certain   
distinction--can they have been an      
influence with ,raeburn8--the ,scottish 
portrait-painters of the eighteenth     
century were much influenced by ,ramsay1
 and ,martin had been his favourite     
pupil4 ,raeburn's connection with the   
latter was very slight1 however4        
,beyond giving the youth the entre to   
his studio and lending him a few        
pictures to copy1 ,martin does not seem 
to have been of much direct assistance1 
and even these little courtesies come to
 an end when the painter to the ,prince 
of ,wales for ,scotland unjustly accused
 the jeweller's apprentice of having    
sold one of the copies he had been      
allowed to make4  ,rumour1 often astray 
but now and then hitting the mark1 said 

that the real reason was jealousy of the
 younger man's growing powers4          
,raeburn's debt to ,ramsay and ,martin  
was therefore inconsiderable and        
indirect4  ,it is not traceable in the  
technique or arrangement of his earliest
 known pictures1 such as the full-length
 ,george ,chalmers in ,dunfermline ,town
 ,hall1 which was painted in #aggf1 when
 the artist was twenty4  ,probably sight
 of ,martin's pictures in progress was  
an incentive to work rather than a      
formative influence on his development  
as a painter4  ,he had1 says ,allan     
,cunningham1 writing within a few years 
of ,raeburn's death1 to make            
experiments1 and drudge to acquire what 
belongs to the mechanical labour1 and   
not to the genius of his art4  ,his     
first difficulty was the preparation of 
his colours2 putting them on the        
palette1 and applying them according to 
the rules of art taught in the          
academies4  ,all this he had to seek out
 for himself4  ,and1 if probably        

exaggerated1 the statement gives some   
idea of the difficulties with which he  
had to contend4  ,there were at that    
time no exhibitions and no public       
collections of pictures where a youth of
 genuine instinct could have gleaned    
hints as to technical procedure1 but    
there were at least portraits in a      
number of houses in the city and        
district1 and from these and from prints
 after the ,masters1 of which ,deuchar1 
an etcher himself1 evidently possessed  
examples1 ,raeburn no doubt derived much
 instruction as to design1 the use of   
chiaroscuro and the like4  ,it has also 
been suggested with considerable        
likelihood that mezzotints after        
portraits by ,sir ,joshua ,reynolds had 
a considerable effect upon him4         
,,plate ,v4--,,professor ,,robison4     
7,university of ,edinburgh47  ,painted  
about #agih1 ,professor ,robison is one 
of the most notable portraits painted by
 ,raeburn before #ahjj4  ,it represents 
the culmination of his premier coup     

manner4  7,see pp4 #fc and #gc47        
,illustration3 ,plate ,v4    ,passing   
from supposition1 which1 however        
interesting and plausible1 throws no    
very definite light upon the formation  
of ,raeburn's style1 to his early work  
itself1 one finds it chiefly remarkable 
for frank rendering of character4       
,obviously he believed in his own eyes1 
and sought simple and direct ways for   
the expression of his vision4 ,certain  
of what he saw1 and desiring to set it  
down as he saw it1 lack of training in  
the traditional methods of painting by  
process probably led him to attempt     
direct realisation in paint4  ,here is  
at once the simplest and the most       
reasonable explanation of how he became 
an exponent of direct painting1 of how1 
isolated though it was1 his art came to 
be perhaps the most emphatic statement  
of this particular method of handling   
between ,velasquez and ,hals and        
comparatively recent times4  ,of course 
at this early stage his technical       

accomplishment was not at all equal to  
his frankness of vision4  ,his drawing1 
although expressing character1 was      
uncertain and not fully constructive2   
his sense of design was rather stiff and
 occasionally somewhat archaic in       
character2 his handling and modelling1  
if broad and courageous1 were           
insufficiently supported by knowledge2  
his colour was apt to be dull and       
monotonous1 or1 when breaking from that1
 patchy and crude in its more definite  
notes which do not fuse sufficiently    
with their surroundings4  ,gradually    
these deficiencies were mastered1 but in
 some degree they persist in most of the
 comparatively few portraits which can  
be said with certainty to have been     
painted before he went to ,italy4  ,he  
had been in no hurry to go4  ,ever since
 marriage with one of his sitters in    
#aggh1 when he was only twenty-two1 his 
future had been secure4  ,the lady1 ne  
,ann ,edgar of ,bridgelands1            
,peebleshire1 brought him a considerable

 fortune4  ,the widow of ,james         
,leslie--who traced his descent to ,sir 
,george ,leslie1 first ,baron of        
,balquhain 7#acea71 and who1 after his  
purchase of ,deanhaugh in #aggg1a was   
spoken of as ,count of ,deanhaugh--she  
was twelve years the artist's senior1   
and had three children2 but the marriage
 turned out most happily for all        
concerned4 ,raeburn went to live at his 
wife's property1 which lay not far from 
his brother's house and factory at      
,stockbridge1 and1 although sitters     
increased with his growing reputation   
until he is said to have been quite     
independent of his wife's income1 he    
does not appear to have had a separate  
studio4  ,probably his ,edinburgh       
clients went to ,deanhaugh1 and at times
 he seems to have painted portraits at  
the country houses of the gentry4  ,but 
in #aghe desire to see and learn more   
than was possible at home took him to   
,italy4  ,while in ,london he made the  
acquaintance of ,reynolds1 in whose     

studio he may have worked for a few     
weeks1 and ,sir ,joshua's advice        
confirming his original intention1      
,raeburn and his wife went to ,rome1    
where they resided about two years4     
,when parting ,reynolds took him aside  
and whispered3 ,young man1 ,i know      
nothing about your circumstances4       
,young painters are seldom rich2 but if 
money be necessary for your studies     
abroad1 say so1 and you shall not want  
it4  ,money was not needed1 but letters 
of introduction were accepted gladly2   
and ever afterwards ,raeburn mentioned  
the name of ,sir ,joshua with much      
respect4    #a ,if1 as stated by        
,cumberland ,hill in his ,history of    
,stockbridge1 ,leslie bought ,deanhaugh 
in #aggg1 and if1 as stated by          
,cunningham and others1 ,raeburn married
 in #aggh1 the lady can have been a     
widow for only a few months4     ,,iv4  
,in these days of rapid travel1 the     
transition from north to south is       
exceedingly striking4  ,leaving ,london 

one speeds past the pleasant ,surrey    
fields and lanes and woodlands1 and     
through the soft rolling green downs1   
and in the afternoon and evening sees   
the less familiar but not strange wide  
planes and poplar-fringed rivers of     
,northern ,france1 to open one's eyes   
next morning upon the brown sun-baked   
lands1 with their strange southern      
growths1 which lie behind ,marseilles2  
and all day as the train thunders along 
the ,riviera1 through olive gardens and 
vineyards1 one has glimpses of strangely
 picturesque white-walled and           
many-coloured shuttered towns fringing  
the broad bays or clustering on the     
rocks above little harbours1 and drinks 
a strange enchantment from great vistas 
of lovely coast washed by blue waters   
and gladdened by radiant sunshine4  ,and
 on the second morning1 issuing into the
 great square before the station1 you   
have your first sight of ,rome4         
,,plate ,,vi4--,,john ,,tait ,,of       
,,harvieston ,,and ,,his ,,grandson4    

7,mrs ,pitman47  ,one of the artist's   
most virile and trenchant performances1 
it was painted in #agih-i4  ,the child  
was introduced after the grandfather's  
death4  7,see p4 #fc47  ,illustration3  
,plate ,,vi4    ,yet impressive as these
 transitions are1 they are nothing to   
the contrast which ,rome presented to   
the stranger from the north in the      
eighteenth century when1 after slow and 
long and weary travelling1 he reached   
his goal4  ,then ,rome was still a town 
of the renaissance imposed upon a city  
of the ancients2 and under the aegis of 
the ,papacy preserved aspects of life   
and character which differed little from
 those of three or four centuries       
earlier4  ,after the grey metropolis of 
the north1 with its softly luminous or  
cloudy skies1 its sombreness of aspect1 
its calvinistic religious atmosphere1   
its interest in science and philosophy1 
and its want of interest in the arts1   
the clear sunshiny air of the ,eternal  
,city1 its picturesque and crowded life1

 its gorgeous ecclesiastical ceremonies 
and processions1 its monuments of art   
and architecture1 and its cosmopolitan  
coteries of eager dilettanti discussing 
the latest archaeological discoveries1  
and of artists studying the achievements
 of the past1 must have formed an       
extraordinary contrast1 ,yet ,raeburn1  
much as these novel and stirring        
surroundings would strike him1 remained 
true to his own impressions of reality  
and was unaffected in his artistic      
ideals4  ,almost alone of the foreign   
artists then resident in ,rome1 he was  
unaffected by the pseudo-classicism     
which prevailed4  ,in part a product of 
emasculated academic tradition1 and in  
part the result of philosophical        
speculations1 upon which the discoveries
 at ,pompeii and the excavations then   
taking place in ,rome had had a strong  
influence1 it was an attitude which     
founded itself upon the past and opposed
 the direct study of nature4  ,gavin    
,hamilton 7#agbc-ih7 and ,jacob ,more   

7#agdj8-ic7 two of its most conspicuous 
pictorial exponents were ,scots by      
birth1 but they had lived so long abroad
 that ,scotland had become to them      
little more than a memory4  ,the work of
 the former was in many ways an         
embodiment of the current dilettante    
conception of art1 and kindred in kind1 
though earlier in date1 to that of      
,jacques ,louis ,david 7#agdh-ahbe7     
under whose sway1 towards the close of  
the century1 classic ideals came to     
dominate the art of ,europe outside     
these isles4  ,his usefulness to        
,raeburn was chiefly that of a cicerone4
  ,there was little of an archaeological
 kind with which he was unacquainted1   
and he was so famous a discoverer of    
antiquities that the superstitious      
,romans thought that he was in league   
with the devil4  ,the landscapes of     
,more1 though highly praised by ,goethe1
 would appeal to ,raeburn little more   
than did the sublime historical designs 
of ,hamilton4  ,they were but dilutions1

  frequently flavoured  with            
melodramatic sentiment1 of the noble    
convention formulated by ,claude and the
 ,poussins4  ,raeburn1 on the other     
hand1 had looked at man and nature      
inquiringly1 and had evolved a manner of
 expressing the results of his          
observation for himself4  ,moreover he  
was past the easily impressionable age1 
and turned his opportunities to direct  
and practical uses4  ,he used to declare
 that the advice of ,james ,byres       
7#agcd-ahah87 of ,tonley1 who1 in       
,raeburn's own words1 was a man of great
 general information1 a profound        
antiquary1 and one of the best judges   
perhaps of everything connected with art
 in ,great ,britain1 was the most       
valuable lesson he received while       
abroad4  ,never paint anything except   
you have it before you was what his     
friend urged1 and1 while ,raeburn1 to   
judge from his early portraits1 did not 
stand greatly in need of the injunction1
 it probably strengthened him in his own

 beliefs4  ,be that as it may he seems  
to have used his stay in ,italy         
principally to widen his technical      
experience1 and his work after his      
return was richer and fuller than what  
he had done previously4  ,no record of  
any special study he may have undertaken
 or of the pictures he particularly     
admired exists4 ,even gossip is silent  
as regards his preferences1 except in so
 far as it is said that while in ,rome  
he came near to preferring sculpture to 
painting4     ,v4  ,arrived back in     
,edinburgh in #aghg1 ,raeburn took a    
studio in the new town1 and1 with his   
enhanced powers and the added prestige  
due to his sojourn abroad1 soon occupied
 a commanding place4  ,few agreed with  
,martin that the lad in ,george ,street 
painted better before he went to ,italy1
 for if the majority were unaware of his
 high artistic gifts1 none could be     
unconscious of the vital and convincing 
quality of his portraitures4  ,his      
earlier sitters included some of the    

most distinguished people in ,scotland4 
,lord ,president ,dundas must have been 
amongst the very first for he died      
before the end of the year4  ,ere long  
his position was unassailable1 and      
during the five-and-thirty years that   
followed he painted practically         
everybody who was anybody4 ,burns is    
probably the only great ,scotsman of    
that epoch who was not immortalised by  
his brush1 for the missing likeness1    
which has been discovered so often1 was 
not painted from life but from          
,nasmyth's portrait4  ,from the time he 
returned home until #ahji1 when he      
purchased the adjoining property off ,st
 ,bernard's1 ,raeburn lived at          
,deanhaugh4#a ,the junction of these    
small estates enabled him to feu the    
outlying parts on plans prepared by     
himself1 architecture being one of his  
hobbies1 and his family's connection    
with them is still marked by such names 
as ,raeburn ,place1 ,ann ,street 7after 
his wife71 ,leslie ,place1 ,st          

,bernard's ,crescent1 and ,deanhaugh    
,street4  ,some years earlier continuous
 increase in the number of his clients  
had rendered a change of studio         
desirable1 and in #agie he moved from   
,george ,street to #af 7now #cb7 ,york  
,place where he had built a specially   
designed and spacious studio1 with a    
suite of rooms for the display of       
recently completed work or of portraits 
he had painted for himself4  ,at a later
 date1 when exhibitions were inaugurated
 in ,edinburgh 7first series #ahjh-ac71 
he lent the show-rooms to the ,society  
of ,artists which organised them4 ,this 
action was typical of ,raeburn's cordial
 relations with his fellow-artists1 most
 of whom were poor and socially         
unimportant2 and only a year before his 
death he championed the professional    
artists when1 partly in opposition to   
the ,royal ,institution1 they proposed  
to form an ,academy4  ,incidentally     
also1 the letter written on that        
occasion1 which ,i have transcribed in  

full in ,scottish ,painting2 ,past and  
,present1 gives an indication of the    
extent of his practice1 of how fully he 
was engaged4  ,until #ahjh ,raeburn's   
career had been one unbroken success1   
but in that year1 following upon the    
failure of his son1 financial disaster  
overtook him4  ,the firm of ,henry      
,raeburn and ,company1 merchants1       
,shore1 ,leith1 consisted of ,henry     
,raeburn1 ,junior1 and ,james ,philip   
,inglis1 who had married ,anne ,leslie1 
the artist's step-daughter1 but neither 
the ,edinburgh ,gazette nor the local   
,directory states the nature of their   
business4  ,in the proceedings in       
connection with ,raeburn's own          
bankruptcy1 however1 he is described as 
portrait-painter and underwriter4  ,what
 underwriter exactly means is uncertain1
 but it may be that the son was a       
marine-insurance broker1 that ,raeburn  
himself took marine-insurance risks4    
,in any case his ruin seemed complete4  
,not only did he lose all his savings   

but he had even to sell the ,york ,place
 studio1 of which he was afterwards only
 tenant4  ,he failed1 paid a            
composition1 and1 two years later1      
proposed settling in ,london4  ,by those
 of his biographers who have noticed it 
at all1 this failure and the            
contemplated removal south have been    
very closely associated4  ,but a more   
careful examination of the whole        
circumstances makes such an assumption  
rather doubtful4  ,alexander            
,cunningham1 in a letter written on     
#afth ,february #ahjh1 tells a          
correspondent--,i had a walk of three   
hours on ,sunday with my worthy friend1 
,raeburn4  ,he had realised nearly      
#ag1jjj1 which is all gone4  ,he has    
offered a small composition1 which he is
 in hopes will be accepted4  ,he quits  
this to try his fate in ,london1 which  
,i trust in ,god will be successful4    
,while ,i write this ,i feel the tear   
start4  ,so far the connection is       
evident enough4  ,but although the      

artist received his discharge in ,june  
of the same year1#b it was not until two
 years later that he took active steps  
towards carrying out his idea4#c  ,the  
time was highly propitious4  ,hoppner   
had just died 7#bcrd ,january #ahaj71   
and ,wilkie records in his journal      
7,march #bnd7 that he had heard that    
that artist's house was to be taken for 
,raeburn4  ,lawrence was now without a  
rival in the metropolis1 and ,raeburn's 
talent was of a kind which would soon   
have commanded attention there4  ,the   
opening was obvious1 but ,raeburn's     
reception by the gentlemen of the ,royal
 ,academy1 when he visited ,london in   
,may1 was not very cordial1 and         
fortunately for ,scotland1 if not for   
himself1 he was persuaded to remain in  
,edinburgh4  ,from then onward the fates
 were kind4  ,to quote his own words1   
written in #ahbb1 my business1 though it
 may fall off1 cannot admit of          
enlargement4  ,wider recognition also   
came to him4  ,he had exhibited at the  

,royal ,academy as early as #agib1 but  
it was #ahaj before he became a regular 
contributor1 and in #ahab he was elected
 an ,associate1 full membership         
following three years later4  ,just     
prior to his advancement to ,academician
 rank1 he wrote one of the few letters  
by him that have been preserved3--,i    
observe what you say respecting the     
election of an ,r4,a42 but what am ,i to
 do here8  ,they know that ,i am on     
their list2 if they choose to elect me  
without solicitation1 it will be the    
more honourable to me1 and ,i will think
 the more of it2 but if it can only be  
obtained by means of solicitation and   
canvassing1 ,i must give up all hopes of
 it1 for ,i would think it unfair to    
employ those means4  ,no doubt election 
was particularly gratifying to ,raeburn4
  ,isolated as he was in ,edinburgh1    
where an ,academy did not come into     
existence until some years after his    
death1 it must have been stimulating to 
receive such tangible assurance of that 

appreciation of one's fellow-workers    
which is the most grateful form of      
admiration to the artist4  ,he          
reciprocated by offering as his diploma 
work the impressive portrait of himself1
 which is now one of the treasures of   
the ,national ,gallery of ,scotland4    
,the rules of the ,academy1 however1    
forbade the acceptance of a             
self-portrait1 and in #ahba he gave the 
,boy with ,rabbit--a portrait of his    
step-grandson1 but one of his most      
genre-like pieces4  ,other ,academic    
diplomas received later were those of   
the ,academies of ,florence1 ,new ,york1
 and ,south ,carolina4  ,a year before  
he died these artistic laurels were     
supplemented by royal favour4  ,on the  
occasion of that never-to-be-forgotten  
event--to those who took part in it--the
 first visit of a ,king to ,scotland    
since the ,union of ,parliaments1       
,raeburn was presented to ,george ,,iv4 
and knighted4 ,his fellow artists marked
 their appreciation of this fresh       

distinction by entertaining him to a    
public dinner1 at which the chairman1   
,alexander ,nasmyth1 the doyen of the   
local painters1 declared that they loved
 him as a man not less than they admired
 him as an artist4  ,and in the         
following ,may1 the ,king appointed him 
his limner and painter in ,scotland1    
with all fees1 profits1 salaries1       
rights1 privileges1 and advantages      
thereto belonging4  ,raeburn did not    
long enjoy these new honours4  ,in      
,july1 a day or two after returning from
 an archaeological excursion in         
,fifeshire with1 amongst others1 ,sir   
,walter ,scott and ,miss ,edgeworth1 he 
became suddenly ill1 took to bed1 and in
 less than a week was dead4    #a ,all  
,raeburn's biographers follow           
,cunningham in stating that ,raeburn    
succeeded to ,st ,bernard's on the death
 of his brother in #aghg or #aghh4 ,it  
was not so1 however4  ,the intimation in
 the ,edinburgh ,evening ,courant1 of   
#acth ,december #ahaj1 reads1 ,died on  

the #fth ,december ,mr ,william         
,raeburn1 manufacturer1 ,stockbridge2   
and the title deeds of ,st ,bernard's   
show that the artist purchased it from  
the trustees of the late ,mrs ,margaret 
,ross in ,october #ahji4  #b ,henry     
,raeburn  ,co4's affairs were not       
settled until ,march #ahaj4  #c ,that   
his own affairs were not only settled   
but were again highly prosperous before 
this is apparent from his having        
purchased ,st ,bernard's in #ahji4      
,,vi4  ,while ,raeburn's attitude to    
reality was determined and his style was
 formed to a great extent before he went
 abroad1 his ideas of pictorial effect  
were broadened and his technical        
resources enriched by his sojourn in    
,italy4  ,some of the work executed     
immediately after his return1 such as   
the portraits of ,lord ,president       
,dundas1 ,neil ,gow1 the famous fiddler1
 and the earlier of two portraits of his
 friend ,john ,clerk of ,eldin1 shows1  
with much unity1 a greater care and     

precision in the handling of detail1 a  
more searched kind of modelling and a   
fuller sense of tone1 and thicker       
impasto and fuller colour than that done
 previously4  ,moreover the design of   
the first-named picture is reminiscent  
in certain ways of ,velasquez's ,pope   
,innocent ,x41 which he may have seen   
and studied in the ,doria ,palace in    
,rome1 though too much stress need not  
be laid on the resemblance4  ,about this
 time also1 he painted a few pictures in
 which difficult problems of lighting   
are subtly and skilfully solved4  ,in   
things like the charming bust ,william  
,ferguson of ,kilrie 7before #agij7 and 
the group of ,sir ,john and ,lady ,clerk
 of ,penicuik 7#agij7 the faces are in  
luminous shadow1 touched by soft        
reflected light to give expression and  
animation4  ,but for obvious reasons    
such effects are not favoured by the    
clients of portrait-painters1 and that  
,raeburn should have adopted them at all
 is evidence of the widening of the     

artistic horizon induced by his stay    
abroad4    ,,plate ,,vii4--,,miss       
,,emily ,,de ,,vismes--,,lady ,,murray4 
7,earl of ,mansfield47  ,an admirable   
example of the artist's mature style1   
and one of his most charming portraits  
of women4  7,see p4 #gi47               
,illustration3 ,plate ,,vii4    ,in     
pictures painted but little later than  
these1 one finds a marked tendency to   
revert to the more abbreviated modelling
 and broader execution which have been  
noted as characteristic of his          
pre-,roman style4  ,the execution1      
however1 is now much more confident and 
masterly1 the draughtsmanship better1   
the design1 while exceedingly simple1   
less stiff and more closely knit4       
,using pigment of very fluid consistency
 and never loading the lights1 though   
following the traditional method of     
thick in the lights and thin in the     
shadows1 his handling is exceedingly    
direct and spontaneous1 his touch       
fearless and broad yet thoroughly under 

control1 his drawing summary yet        
selective and so expressive that1 even  
in faces where the lighting is so broad 
that there is little shadow to mark the 
features and little modelling to explain
 the planes1 the large structure of the 
head and the essentials of likeness are 
rendered in a very satisfying and       
convincing way4  ,his colour1 however1  
if losing the inclination to the rather 
dull grey-greenness which had prevailed 
before #aghe1 remained somewhat cold and
 wanting in quality1 and the more       
forcible tints introduced in the        
draperies were frequently lacking in    
modulation and were not quite in harmony
 with the prevailing tone4  ,something  
of this deficiency in fusion is also    
noticeable in his flesh tints1 the      
carnations of the complexions being     
somewhat detached owing to defective    
gradation where the pinks join the      
whites4  ,as experience came1 ,raeburn  
advanced from the somewhat starved      
quality of pigment1 which in his earlier

 pictures was accentuated by his broad  
manner of handling1 until in many of the
 pictures painted during the later      
nineties he attained extraordinary #fc  
power of expression by vigorous and     
incisive use of square brush-work and   
full yet fluid and unloaded impasto4    
,this method with its sharply struck    
touches and simplified planes reaches   
its climax perhaps in the striking      
portrait 7#agih circa7 of ,professor    
,robison in white night-cap and         
red-striped dressing-gown1 though the   
more fused manner of ,mrs ,campbell of  
,balliemore 7#agie7 and the             
extraordinary trenchant handling of the 
,john ,tait of ,harvieston and his      
grandson 7#agih-i7 show modifications   
which are as fine and perhaps less      
mannered4  ,even earlier he sometimes   
attained a solidity and forcefulness of 
effect1 a fullness of colour1 and a     
resonance of tone which gave foretaste  
of the accomplishment of his full       
maturity4 ,curiously this is most marked

 in two or three full-lengths4  ,the    
earliest of these was the famous ,dr    
,nathaniel ,spens in the possession of  
the ,royal ,company of ,archers1 by     
which body it was commissioned in #agia4
  ,in it close realisation of detail and
 restraint in handling are very happily 
harmonised with breadth of ensemble and 
effectiveness of design4  ,some five    
years later this fine achievement was   
followed by the even more striking1 if  
rather less dignified1 ,sir ,john       
,sinclair1 a splendid piece of          
virtuosity1 which unites brilliant      
colour and admirable tone to great dash 
and bravura of brush-work4  ,during this
 period1 and indeed throughout his      
career1 ,raeburn usually placed his     
sitters in a strong direct light1 which1
 being thrown upon the head and upper   
part of the figure 7from a high         
side-light7 illumined the face broadly1 
and1 while emphasising the features with
 definite though narrow shadows1 made it
 dominate the ensemble4  ,very often    

this concentration of effect was        
associated with a forced and arbitrary  
use of chiaroscuro4  ,in many of his    
pictures one finds the lower portion of 
the figure1 including the hands1 low in 
tone through the artist having arranged 
a screen or blind to throw a shadow over
 the parts he wished subordinated4      
,this device appears in full-lengths as 
well as in busts and                    
threequarter-lengths1 and while1 no     
doubt1 helping to the desired end1 is   
now and then a disturbing influence from
 the fact that it is difficult to       
account for the result from purely      
normal causes4  ,with ,rembrandt1 the   
greatest master of concentrated         
pictorial effect1 the transitions from  
the fully illumined passages to the     
surrounding transparent darks are so    
gradual and so subtle that one scarcely 
notices that the effect has been        
arranged--the concentration is an       
integral part of the imaginative        
apprehension of the subject4  ,it is    

otherwise with ,raeburn1 in his earlier 
work at least4  ,later he attained much 
the same results by less arbitrary and  
apparent means1 by swathing the hands   
and arms--the high tone of which he     
evidently found disconcerting and       
conflicting with the heads--in drapery1 
by placing them where they tell as      
little as possible1 and by modifications
 in handling4  ,his management of       
accessories was also determined by      
desire for concentration4  ,although1 as
 is obvious from his increasing use of  
it1 preferring a simple background from 
which the figure has atmospheric        
detachment1 he frequently used the      
scenic setting which ,reynolds and      
,gainsborough had made the vogue4  ,his 
idea1 however1 was that a landscape     
background should be exceedingly        
unassertive--nothing more than the      
shadow of a landscape2 effect is all    
that is wanted--and1 always executing   
them himself1 his are invariably        
subordinate to the figure4  ,but the    

essential quality of his vision went    
best with plain backgrounds4  ,that he  
did not wholly abandon the decorative   
convention which he heired1 and often   
employed to excellent purpose1 was due  
in large measure to caution4  ,he came1 
says ,w4 ,e4 ,henley1 at the break      
between new and old--when the old was   
not yet discredited1 and the new was    
still inoffensive2 and with that        
exquisite good sense which marks the    
artist1 he identified himself with that 
which was known1 and not with that      
which1 though big with many kinds of    
possibilities1 was as yet in perfect    
touch with nothing actively alive4      
,yet1 had he had the full courage of his
 convictions1 his work would have been  
an even more outstanding landmark in the
 history of painting than it is4  ,still
 to ask from ,raeburn what one does not 
get from ,velasquez1 many of whose      
portraits have a conventional setting1  
is to be more exacting than critical1   
and1 as has been indicated1 simplicity  

of design and aerial relief became      
increasingly evident in ,raeburn's work1
 and that in spite of the protests of   
some of his admirers4  ,while ,raeburn  
had been working towards a fuller and   
more subtle statement of likeness1      
modelling1 and arrangement1 it is       
possible that removal to his new studio 
accelerated development in that         
direction4 ,the painting-room had been  
designed by himself for his own special 
purposes1 and no doubt suggested new    
possibilities4  ,in any case1 the       
portraits painted after #agie reveal a  
definite increase in the qualities      
mentioned4  ,but before considering the 
characteristics of his later style1 it  
might be well to tell what is known of  
his habits of work and technical        
procedure4  ,cunningham's summary of    
these applies partly to the ,george     
,street and partly to the ,york ,place  
period1 but for practical purposes they 
may be regarded as one1 for1 while      
,raeburn's art may be divided into      

periods1 each was but a stage in a      
gradual and consistent evolution4  ,the 
motions of the artist were as regular as
 those of a clock4  ,he rose at seven   
during summer1 took breakfast about     
eight with his wife and children1 walked
 into ,george ,street1 and was ready for
 a sitter by nine2 and of sitters he    
generally had1 for many years1 not fewer
 than three or four a day4  ,to these he
 gave an hour and a half each4  ,he     
seldom kept a sitter more than two      
hours1 unless the person happened--and  
that was often the case--to be gifted   
with more than common talents4  ,he then
 felt himself happy1 and never failed to
 detain the party till the arrival of a 
new sitter intimated that he must be    
gone4  ,for a head size he generally    
required four or five sittings3 and he  
preferred painting the head and hands to
 any other part of the body2 assigning  
as a reason that they required less     
consideration4  ,a fold of drapery1 or  
the natural ease which the casting of a 

mantle over the shoulder demanded1      
occasioned him more perplexing study    
than a head full of thought and         
imagination4  ,such was the intuition   
with which he penetrated at once to the 
mind1 that the first sitting rarely came
 to a close without his having seized   
strongly on the character and           
disposition of the individual4  ,he     
never drew in his heads1 or indeed any  
part of the body1 with chalk--a system  
pursued successfully by ,lawrence--but  
began with the brush at once4  ,the     
forehead1 chin1 nose1 and mouth1 were   
his first touches4  ,he always painted  
standing1 and never used a stick for    
resting his hand on2 for such was his   
accuracy of eye1 and steadiness of      
nerve1 that he could introduce the most 
delicate touches1 or the almost         
mechanical regularity of line1 without  
aid1 or other contrivance than fair     
off-hand dexterity4  ,he remained in his
 painting-room till a little after five 
o'clock1 when he walked home1 and dined 

at six4444  ,from one who knew him in   
his youthful days1 and sat to him when  
he rose in fame1 ,i have this           
description of his way of going to work4
  ,he spoke a few words to me in his    
usual brief and kindly way--evidently to
 put me into an agreeable mood2 and then
 having placed me in a chair on a       
platform at the end of his              
painting-room1 in the posture required1 
set up his easel beside me with the     
canvas ready to receive the colour4     
,when he saw all was right1 he took his 
palette and his brush1 retreated back   
step by step1 with his face towards me1 
till he was nigh the other end of the   
room2 he stood and studied for a minute 
more1 then came up to the canvas1 and1  
without looking at me1 wrought upon it  
with colour for some time4  ,having done
 this1 he retreated in the same manner1 
studied my looks at that distance for   
about another minute1 then came hastily 
up to the canvas and painted for a few  
minutes more4  ,these details may be    

supplemented by the list of colours used
 by him1 which ,alexander ,fraser1      
,r4,s4,a41 gave in ,the ,portfolio4     
,his palette was a simple one2 his      
colours were vermilion1 raw sienna 7but 
sometimes yellow ochre instead71        
,prussian blue1 burnt sienna1 ivory     
black1 crimson lake1 white1 of course1  
and the medium he used was 'gumption1' a
 composition of sugar of lead1 mastic   
varnish1 and linseed oil4  ,the colours 
were ground by a servant in his own     
house and put into small pots ready for 
use4  ,when one adds that his studio had
 a very high side-light1 and that he    
painted on half-primed canvas with a    
definitely marked twill1 all that is    
known of his practice has been noted4   
,,plate ,,viii4--,,mrs ,,scott          
,,moncrieff4  7,national ,gallery of    
,scotland47  ,none of ,raeburn's        
portraits of ladies is quite so famous  
as this4 ,although in indifferent       
condition owing to bitumen having been  
used1 it is singularly charming in      

colour1 design1 and sentiment1 and is   
one of the chief treasures of the       
gallery1 in which it has hung since     
#ahed1 when ,mr ,r4 ,scott ,moncrieff1  
,welwood of ,pitliver1 bequeathed it to 
the ,royal ,scottish ,academy4  7,see   
page #gi47  ,illustration3 ,plate       
,,viii4    ,as already suggested1       
,raeburn's style was tending towards    
greater completeness of expression and  
more naturalness of arrangement before  
he removed to ,york ,place in #agie1    
but1 while his normal advance was in    
that direction1 it was so gradual that  
it is only by looking at a number of    
pictures painted1 say1 five or ten years
 later1 and comparing them with their   
#gc predecessors that one notices that  
the advance was definite and not casual4
  ,occasionally1 as in the ,professor   
,robison1 there is a very emphatic      
restatement of a somewhat earlier       
method2 but1 as the ,lord ,braxfield of 
about #agij is a premonition of a much  
later manner1 this exceptional treatment

 seems to have been inspired by the     
character of the sitter having suggested
 its special suitability4  ,but         
comparing the splendid group1 ,reginald 
,macdonald of ,clanranald and his two   
younger brothers 7about #ahjj71 or the  
,mrs ,cruikshank of ,langley ,park      
7about #ahje71 with typical examples    
painted between #aghg and #agie1 one    
finds the later pictures marked not only
 by increased power of drawing and more 
masterly brush-work but by a finer      
rendering of form1 by greater roundness 
of modelling1 and by a more expressive  
use of colour and chiaroscuro4          
,considerable ingenuity has been        
expended in trying to prove that        
,raeburn's subsequent development was   
due in some way or other to the         
influence of ,hoppner and ,lawrence4    
,consideration of his situation and of  
his work itself1 however1 scarcely bears
 this out4  ,his ignorance of what was  
being done by ,london artists1 and of   
how his own pictures compared with      

theirs1 is very clearly evident from the
 following letter written to ,wilkie3-- 
,edinburgh1   #abth ,september #ahai4   
,mr dear ,sir1--,i let you to wit that  
,i am still here1 and long much to hear 
from you1 both as to how you are and    
what you are doing4  ,i would not wish  
to impose any hardship upon you1 but it 
would give me great pleasure if you     
would take the trouble to write me at   
least once a year1 if not oftener1 and  
give me a little information of what is 
going on among the artists1 for ,i do   
assure you ,i have as little            
communication with any of them1 and know
 almost as little about them1 as if ,i  
were living at the ,cape of ,good ,hope4
  ,i send up generally a picture or two 
to the ,exhibition1 which serve merely  
as an advertisement that ,i am still in 
the land of the living1 but in other    
respects it does me no good1 for ,i get 
no notice from any one1 nor have ,i the 
least conception how they look beside   
others4  ,i know not in what ,london    

papers any critiques of that kind are   
made1 and our ,edinburgh ones 7at least 
those that ,i see7 take no notice of    
these matters4  ,at any rate ,i would   
prefer a candid observation or two from 
an artist like you1 conveying not only  
your own opinion but perhaps that of    
others1 before any of them4  ,are the   
,portrait-,painters as well employed as 
ever8  ,sir ,thomas ,lawrence1 they tell
 me1 has refused to commence any more   
pictures till he gets done with those   
that are on hand1 and that he has raised
 his prices to some enormous sum4  ,is  
that true1 and will you do me the favour
 to tell me what his prices really are1 
and what ,sir ,w4 ,beechy1 ,mr ,philips1
 and ,mr ,owen have for their pictures8 
,it will be a particular favour if you  
will take the trouble to ascertain these
 for me precisely1 for ,i am raising my 
prices too1 and it would be a guide to  
me--not that ,i intend to raise mine so 
high as your famous ,london artists4    
,moreover he is said to have visited    

,london only three times3 in #aghe1 when
 he spent several weeks while on his way
 to ,italy2 in #ahaj1 when he           
contemplated settling there2 and in     
#ahae1 after he was elected an          
,academician4  ,it is of course only    
with the later visits that we have to do
 in this connection4  ,by that time     
,hoppner was dead1 and ,lawrence's claim
 to be painter par excellence to the    
fashionable world was undisputed4  ,no  
doubt the ,scottish painter would be    
attracted by the technical              
accomplishment of ,lawrence's work2 but 
he was between fifty and sixty years of 
age and little likely to be influenced  
by an art1 which1 for all its           
brilliance1 was meretricious in many    
respects4 ,yet it is possible that the  
adulation lavished by society upon his  
contemporary's style may have induced   
him to consider if something of the     
elegance for which it was esteemed so   
highly could not be added with advantage
 to his own4  ,on the other hand1       

,scottish society was gradually         
undergoing evolution1  and1 while a     
greater infusion of fashion amongst its 
members would in itself tend to         
stimulate the favourite painter of the  
day in the same direction1 increase in  
wealth would bring a greater number of  
younger sitters to his studio4 ,probably
 a combination of these represents the  
influences which affected ,raeburn4  ,in
 any case1 his later portraits1         
especially of women1 possess qualities  
of charm and beauty which1 while never  
merely pretty or meretricious1 connect  
them in some measure with the more      
modish and less sincere and virile work 
of ,lawrence4  ,but otherwise--and1     
unlike his southern contemporaries1 he  
never sacrificed character to elegance  
or subordinated individuality to        
type--the evolution of his style        
continued on purely personal lines4     
,the pictures painted between #ahaj and 
his death1 while still at the height of 
his powers1 are essentially one with    

those of the preceding decade4 ,there is
 in them a more delicate sense of beauty
 than before1 and his portraits of      
ladies are marked by a quickened        
perception of feminine grace and charm2 
but these are results of the natural    
development of his nature and of his    
personal powers of expression rather    
than of any radical alteration in his   
standpoint4  ,as regards the work of the
 last fifteen years and more1 it is less
 increased grasp of character1 for that 
had always been a leading trait1 than   
growth in the expressive power and      
completeness of his technique that is   
the dominating factor4  ,and here the   
prevailing qualities are but the issue  
of previous experience4  ,his modelling 
ceases to be marked by the rough-hewn   
and over simplified planes which had    
distinguished his incisive square-touch 
at its strongest and becomes fused and  
suave4  ,as ,sir ,walter ,armstrong put 
it1 ,he began with the facets and ended 
with the completest modelling ever      

reached by any ,english painter4  ,now  
his colour not only loses the           
inclination to slatiness and monotony1  
which were evident before #agie1 and    
sometimes even later1 but1 the          
half-tones being more delicately graded1
 the transitions1 though still lacking  
the subtleties of the real colourist1   
are blended and the general tone        
enriched and harmonised4  ,and his use  
of chiaroscuro becomes infinitely more  
delicate both in its play upon the face 
and in the broad disposition1 which now 
attains finer and more convincing       
concentration in virtue of more skillful
 subordination through handling1 as well
 as through more pictorial management of
 his old arrangement of lighting4       
,moreover the scenic setting1 if        
retained in many full-lengths1 is to a  
great extent abandoned for a simple     
background lighted from the same source 
as the sitter1 and against which face   
and figure come in truer atmospheric    
envelope and relief4 ,with these        

alterations1 which were not perhaps     
invariably all gain1 his later work now 
and then lacking the delightfully clear 
and incisive brushing of the preceding  
period1 were also associated a fuller   
and fatter body of paint which1 while   
never loaded1 gives richness of effect1 
and a sonorousness of tone which his    
earlier pictures rarely possess4  ,a    
sympathetic and human perception of     
character was the basis of his          
relationship to his sitters1 each of    
whom is individualised in a rarely      
convincing way1 and to me at least the  
#gi view of life expressed in his later 
pictures seems more genial and          
comprehending than that which dominates 
his earlier work4  ,comparatively this  
is perhaps especially evident in his    
rendering of pretty women4  ,mrs ,scott 
,moncrieff1 ,miss de ,vismes1 ,miss     
,janet ,suttie1 and ,mrs ,irvine        
,boswell1 to name no more1 are all      
beauties2 but each differs from the     
others1 and is marked by personal traits

 to an extent unusual in his earlier    
practice4  ,still his grasp of character
 is more obviously seen in his          
portraitures of older women and of men1 
and his masterpieces are to be found    
amongst his pictures of this kind rather
 than amongst his beauty pieces1        
seductive though the best of these are4 
,when one thinks of his finest and most 
personal achievements1 one recalls such 
things as ,lord ,newton1 ,sir ,william  
,forbes1 and ,james ,wardrop of         
,torbanehill1 or ,mrs ,cruikshank1 and  
,mrs ,james ,campbell4  ,born a painter 
of character1 ,raeburn was at his best  
where character1 intellect1 and         
shrewdness were most marked4  ,yet      
axiomatic though it may sound1 this     
implies great gifts4  ,to seize the     
obvious points of likeness1 and make a  
portrait more living than life itself is
 comparatively easy2 but to grasp the   
essential elements of likeness and      
character1 and1 while vitalising these  
pictorially and decoratively1 to        

preserve the normal tone of life is     
difficult indeed4  ,of this1 the highest
 triumph of the portrait-painter's art  
as such1 ,raeburn was a master4         
,,printed ,,in ,,great ,,britain ,,at   
,,the ,,press ,,of ,,the ,,publishers4  
,,in ,,the ,,same ,,series    ,,artist4 
,,author4    ,,velazquez4               
,s4 ,l4 ,,bensusan4   ,,reynolds4       
,s4 ,l4 ,,bensusan4   ,,turner4         
,c4 ,,lewis ,,hind4   ,,romney4         
,c4 ,,lewis ,,hind4   ,,greuze4         
,,alys ,,eyre ,,macklin4   ,,botticelli4
                ,,henry ,b4 ,,binns4    
,,rossetti4                  ,,lucien   
,,pissarro4   ,,bellini4                
,,george ,,hay4   ,,fra ,,angelico4     
,,james ,,mason4   ,,rembrandt4         
,,josef ,,israels4   ,,leighton4        
,a4 ,,lys ,,baldry4   ,,raphael4        
,,paul ,g4 ,,konody4   ,,holman ,,hunt4 
,,mary ,e4 ,,coleridge4   ,,titian4     
,s4 ,l4 ,,bensusan4   ,,carlo ,,dolci4  
,,george ,,hay4   ,,luini4              
,,james ,,mason4   ,,tintoretto4        

,s4 ,l4 ,,bensusan4    ,others in       
,preparation4