XII.

PORTRAIT BY LAWRENCE. 1820.

1820. (No. 55-)

HER GRACIOUS MAJESTY having been pleased to allow this interesting Portrait to be seen in Scotland, the following notices regarding it may not be without interest. It was commenced in 1820, at the time that Sir Walter sat to Chantrey for his first Bust. The usual practice of Sir Thomas Lawrence was, to put in the head of his portrait before deciding the position of his figure, and drawing in coloured chalks the true outline and expression of the face, so that he might transfer the same to canvas in the absence of his sitter.

Mr. Lockhart's account of this Portrait in its unfinished state in 1820, may be quoted :

"To adorn the walls of the Great Gallery at Windsor Castle, it was the pleasure of George the Fourth that one series should commence with Walter Scott. The portrait was of course begun immediately, and the head was finished before Scott left town. Sir Thomas has caught and fixed with admirable skill one of the loftiest expressions of Scott's countenance at the proudest period of his life; to the perfect truth of the representation every one who ever surprised him in the act of composition at his desk will bear witness. The expression, however, was one with which many who had seen the man often were not familiar ; and it was extremely unfortunate that Sir Thomas filled in the figure from a separate sketch after he had quitted London. When I first saw the head, I thought nothing could be better; but there was an evident change for the worse when the picture appeared in its finished state; for the rest of the person had been done on a different scale, and this neglect of proportion takes considerably from the majestic effect which the head itself, and especially the mighty pile of forehead, had in nature. I hope one day to see a good engraving of the head alone, as I first saw it floating on a dark sea of canvas.”

As already stated, this Portrait was not finished until 1826, and was first exhibited in the Royal Academy, 1827. In the Life of Lawrence, the author, D. E. Williams, says :

“The artist felt his pride excited in painting the portrait of Sir Walter Scott, and he had been annoyed at reports of Sir Walter's having fallen off in his personal appearance. The pencil and the subject were reciprocally calculated to transmit each other to posterity.”— (Lond. 1831. Vol. ii. p. 455-)

NO. XII.]

Sir Thomas, in a letter to a lady, says :—

"RUSSELL SQUARE, Thursday Evening.-MY DEAR MADAM,—I shall wait on you with the greatest pleasure. Sir Walter comes over to refute all the past reports about his looks, increased age, etc. I had the happiness of breakfasting with him this morning at Mr. Rogers'; and all the alteration I see is, in his complexion being fresher, his eye brighter, his face smoother, and his hair less grey than it was; for it is now, I acknowledge, of silvery whiteness."-(Ib. p. 455.)

Sir Walter, in his Diary, November 12, 1826, says :

"Went to sit to Sir T. L., to finish the picture for His Majesty, which every one says is a very fine one. I think so myself, and wonder how Sir Thomas has made so much out of an old weather-beaten block. But I believe the hard features of old Dons like myself are more within the compass of the artist's skill than the lovely face and delicate complexion of females."

"This Portrait has," says Allan Cunningham, “also been much praised; it is certainly very like, but wants the manly massive vigour of the heads of the same illustrious poet by Raeburn. When I saw it first, the head alone was finished, all the surrounding ground was dark, and I thought it much more like than when the shoulders and body were added. 'Tell Lawrence,' said an artist of high name, 'to let the portrait of your friend Scott stand as it is; it is full of character and mental vigour, all of which he will diminish if he paints the body.""-British Painters, vol. vi. p. 241.

It is proper to add, that the Photograph, in order to give the portrait to greater advantage, does not represent the entire picture, of which there are excellent engravings, by Robinson, Horsburgh, and others.

The death of Sir Thomas Lawrence, January 7, 1830, prevented his producing a full-length figure of Scott, among other commissions he had to execute for Sir Robert Peel.

XIII.

PORTRAIT BY RAEBURN.

1822. (No. 57.)

THE two full-lengths of Scott, representing him seated, painted by Sir Henry Raeburn in the year 1808, and repeated in 1809, are already described (No. IX.) At a later period, it is matter of regret that he was not employed to paint a third full-length, as intended.

In the extensive additions to Bowhill, Charles fourth Duke of Buccleuch, in his last letter addressed to Scott, when on the eve of embarking at Portsmouth, early in 1819, reminded him of a promise to sit for his portrait by Raeburn, to be hung up in his Grace's large libraryroom there. The Duke's death at Lisbon, April 20, that year, put a stop to this. Lord Montagu, however, having again put Sir Walter in mind of this old promise in May 1822, he replied, he thought it would be better to wait two or three years longer, and allow the young Duke to judge for himself as to the mode of adorning this favourite residence at Bowhill.

“Acquiescing,” says Lockhart, “in the propriety of what Sir Walter had thus said respecting the proposed portrait for Bowhill, Lord Montagu requested him to sit, without delay, for a smaller picture on his own behalf; and the result was that half-length now at Ditton, which possesses a peculiar value and interest, as being the very last work of Raeburn's pencil. The Poet's answer to Lord Montagu's request was as follows:—

““ABBOTSFORD, 27th March 1822.—My dear Lord,—I should be very unworthy of so great a proof of your regard did I not immediately assure you of the pleasure with which I will contribute the head you wish to the halls of Ditton. I know no place where the substance has been so happy, and therefore the shadow may be so far well placed. I will not suffer this important affair to languish, so far as I am concerned, but will arrange with Raeburn when I return to Edinburgh in May,'" etc.

The later Portraits by Raeburn are of a head size. The one best known, which remained in the artist's possession, was engraved by W. Walker (No. 162), and has often been copied. The dates are somewhat uncertain. A second was painted by Raeburn for Sir Francis Chantrey. NO. XIII.]