About this artwork
Lord Braxfield was said to be the best lawyer in Scotland, an expert in intricate legal questions arising out of the 1745 Rising. His later fame owes more to his reputation as a 'hanging judge'. Reactionary in politics and a hard drinker, he was notorious for uttering such memorable phrases as 'Hang a thief when he's young, and he'll no steal when he's auld'. Raeburn painted Braxfield when he was dying, and little more than a shadow of the man described in his prime as being like 'a formidable blacksmith'.
Updated before 2020
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artist:Sir Henry Raeburn (1756 - 1823) Scottish
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title:Robert Macqueen, Lord Braxfield, 1722 - 1799. Lord Justice-Clerk
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date created:About 1798
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materials:Oil on canvas
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measurements:120.60 x 100.30 cm; Framed: 150.00 x 127.60 x 10.00 cm
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object type:
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credit line:Purchased 1954
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accession number:PG 1615
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gallery:
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depicted:
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subject:
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artwork photographed by:Antonia Reeve
Sir Henry Raeburn
Sir Henry Raeburn
Originally apprenticed to a goldsmith, Henry Raeburn showed enormous artistic talent as a young man. In 1784 he moved to London where he met the important portrait painter Joshua Reynolds. He spent some time in Italy but returned to Edinburgh in 1787 where he began painting portraits of the rich,...