of the same dimensions, frames and all, but three hundred marks; and Lord Maxwell, for his own picture and his lady's, to their knees, one hundred marks; both sums of Scots money." The prices which Jamesone received for his works were, indeed, low; but we are not certain that he amassed all the fortune which he so benevolently disposed of, by labouring at the easel: his connections were numerous, respectable, and rich in his youth, he bore the expense of foreign travel, and foreign study, and he likewise endeavoured to establish himself in the unprofitable line of history, before he was forced into portraiture by the public taste.

Of the personal manners of Jamesone, we have very scanty information. He has been called vain, because he often painted his own portrait, and ever with his hat on: but it should be remembered, that this wearing of the hat was the practice of his great master, Rubens; and that when his portrait was commissioned by a customer, it became a duty to paint it. It was also, perhaps, in imitation of Rubens, that he usually introduced the portrait of his wife with that of his son and himself: Isabel Tosh was a comely woman, and the artist no doubt was vain of her good looks. His disposition appears to have been amiable: he painted many portraits for fame or for friendship alone, and bequeathed some of his most valuable works to the noblemen who had patronised him; thus at once repaying them for their kindness, and securing for his productions galleries worthy of their merit. He is

always spoken of as a good presbyterian; but he left a natural daughter behind him; and in his last will, notwithstanding the feeling of the times, he seems to have made no distinction between her and his lawful daughter. This latter lady, Mary Jamesone, married, first, Mr. Burnet of Aldricke, in the county of Aberdeen; secondly, James Gregory, an eminent mathematician, and ancestor of the Gregorys of Edinburgh, so distinguished in the history of medicine and of literature; thirdly, George Eddie, citizen and bailie, Aberdeen; and in all of these alliances she had children. She inherited no small portion of her father's genius in art, and dedicated it to devout purposes. She wrought several Scripture pieces in tapestry, and hung them in the High Church of Aberdeen. One of her descendants, John Alexander, obtained some reputation in art: he was educated in Italy; returned to Scotland in 1720; painted several historical pictures at Castle Gordon, and delighted to copy or invent portraits of Mary Queen of Scots. Many families in the North, distinguished for talent and respectability, still take pride in tracing their lineage to Jamesone.

In his hours of study, or his modes of labour, who shall instruct us? He painted commonly on a grey canvass; his full length portraits were usually a slight degree less than the life: his earliest works are sometimes on board, and sometimes on cloth smoothly primed with a proper tone to help the harmony of his shadows. "He was one of the most esteemed," says Walpole, " of Rubens' scholars; and painted in the broad, thin, trans

parent manner.

His excellence consists in delicacy and softness, with a clear and beautiful colouring; his shades not charged, but helped by varnish, with little appearance of the pencil. He had much of Vandyke's second manner; and to Sir Antony some of his works have been occasionally imputed." This is high praise; but when we consider the state of British art in his day, and especially the unskilfulness of the native professors, it can scarcely be considered as extravagant. To depart at once from the formal corpse-like system of making figures, and assert the grace of form and the colouring of nature, required boldness as well as genius; and there can be no question that Jamesone did all this. It may gratify certain sorts of critics, to dwell on the undoubted facts, that a certain hardness of manner is visible even in the happiest of his works; that his portraits are often of a severe aspect, with a touch too much of the vinegar of the times in them; and that he has reached but seldom the perfect ease and happy gracefulness of nature. His outlines are correct, his colouring lucid, and his proportions just; and he was the first native of our island who refused to limit himself to miniatures, like Hilliard and Oliver, and transferred life of the natural dimensions to his canvass. That he stands at the head of the British school of portrait-painting there can, therefore, be no question; nor had England an artist of her own worthy of being named above him in his own walk before the days of Reynolds. When we consider the circumstances of the painter, and his times,—his want of instruc

tors and models, and the various difficulties which the fanatical prejudices of that dark age must have presented to any cultivator of the graceful arts, it is impossible not to admit that Scotland has all reason to be proud of George Jamesone.*

For whatever may be considered as interesting in art, or curious in research, in this memoir, I am indebted to the kindness of my friend, Mr. David Laing of Edinburgh, the well-known bookseller and accomplished antiquarian.

RAMSAY.

ALLAN RAMSAY, principal painter to George the Third, was the son of Allan Ramsay the poet, and Christian Ross his wife, and born at Edinburgh, in the year 1713; the eldest of seven children. His descent from the noble family of Dalhousie is clear and undisputed: it was claimed in verse by his father, and admitted by the contemporary Earl, who thought it to his honour that the restorer of Scottish national poetry was of the family tree. The author of the Gentle Shepherd was, in fact, the great grandson of the laird of Cockpen, a younger brother of that old house.

account.

Of the painter's early years we have but a brief He began to sketch at twelve: Edwards, in his anecdotes, says he was "rather self-taught." The first notice we have of him is in a letter from his father to Smibert the painter, in 1736; when the artist was twentythree years old. "My son Allan has been pursuing his science since he was a dozen years auld: was with Mr. Hyffidg in London for some time, about two years ago; has since been painting here like a Raphael: sets out for the seat of the Beast beyond the Alps within a month hence, to be away two years. I'm sweer* to

Sweer, i. e. loath.