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This half-length portrait of Burns, framed within an oval, has become the most well-known and widely reproduced image of the Scottish poet. Nasmyth's painting, commissioned by the publisher William Creech, was to be engraved for a new edition of Burns' poems. He is shown fashionably dressed against a landscape, evoking his rural background in Alloway, Ayrshire. Burns and Nasmyth had become good friends, having been introduced to one another in Edinburgh by a mutual patron, Patrick Miller of Dalswinton. Nasmyth, pleased to have recorded Burns' likeness convincingly, decided to leave the painting in a slightly unfinished state.

Details

  • Title: Robert Burns, 1759 - 1796. Poet
  • Creator: Alexander Nasmyth
  • Date Created: 1787
  • Physical Location: Scottish National Portrait Gallery
  • Location Created: Scotland
  • Physical Dimensions: h 38.40, w 32.40 cm
  • Type: Painting
  • Rights: https://www.nationalgalleries.org/copyright-image-licensing
  • External Link: See this work at nationalgalleries.org
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Art Genre: Portrait
  • Art Form: Painting
  • Support: Canvas
  • Depicted Location: Alloway, Ayrshire
  • Depicted Person: Robert Burns
  • Depicted Topic: Shirt

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