Four portraits painted by the Scottish painter Allan Ramsay (1713-1784) are among the most precious oil paintings displayed at Broomhall House. As a young man Ramsay exhibited precocious talent. He established a studio in London in 1738 and rapidly earned a reputation as one of the most gifted painters of his generation.
By 1761 Ramsay had become de facto portrait artist to the Royal family as “one of his Majesty’s Principal Painters in Ordinary” and was commissioned to record King George III and Queen Charlotte in their coronation robes. The twin portraits were widely copied and engraved and served as the official State portraits for the next 25 years. Indeed Ramsay’s portrait of the king was recognised as the finest example of Royal portraiture since the time of Van Dyck.
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- Charles Bruce, 5th Earl of Elgin (1732-1771) painted by Allan Ramsay 1754
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- A copy of the Foulis Edition of The Gentle Shepherd written by Allan Ramsay’s father, the elder Allan Ramsay in 1725, from the library at Broomhall together with a silver candlestick belonging to Martha Countess of Elgin and a court sword worn by Charles 5th Earl of Elgin at the coronation of George III in 1761
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- Martha Countess of Elgin painted by Allan Ramsay 1762/3
Between 1754 and 1762 Ramsay painted Charles Bruce, 5th Earl of Elgin and 9th Earl of Kincardine together with his wife Martha Whyte, on two occasions. Each sitting benefits from the “second style” which Ramsay developed in the 1750s, as a quest of the “graceful in nature”.
Blending French Rococo with his own sensibility, Ramsay’s portrait of Martha has been described as “one of the loveliest of all of his portrayals of women and must be accounted among his supreme achievements in the orchestration of subtly blended colour.” (Alastair Smart, SNPG 1992)