David Martin
Henry Home, Lord Kames, 1696 - 1782. Scottish judge and author
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National Galleries of Scotland collection. Photo, National Galleries of Scotland.
David Martin, Henry Home, Lord Kames, 1696 - 1782. Scottish judge and author
About this artwork
Lord Kames, a judge, legal historian and philosopher, took his title from his birthplace in Berwickshire. He became an advocate in 1723 and was made a judge almost thirty years later. As well as writing books on Scots Law, he published prolifically on other subjects, such as his ‘Essays on Morality’ (1754) and ‘Loose Hints upon Education’ (1782). As a judge he had a reputation for being keen to convict, and was notorious for his coarse humour and language. One example of his biting wit is the remark with which he is said to have greeted the verdict against an old chess partner found guilty of murder: ‘That’s checkmate to you, Matthew!’ This portrait, painted more than a decade after his death, is presumably a copy of an earlier work.
Updated before 2020
- Artist:
- David Martin (1737 - 1797) Scottish
- Title:
- Henry Home, Lord Kames, 1696 - 1782. Scottish judge and author
- Date:
- 1794
- Materials:
- Oil on canvas
- Measurements:
- 126.60 x 101.00 cm; Framed: 150.20 x 124.60 x 10.00 cm
- Object type:
- Painting
- Credit line:
- Purchased 1913
- Accession number:
- PG 822
- Gallery:
- In Storage
- Depicted:
- Henry Home
- Subjects:
- The law
- Artwork photographed by:
- Antonia Reeve
True colours
David Martin
David Martin was born in Anstruther, Fife, the son of a schoolmaster. He trained under Allan Ramsay, working in his fellow Scot's London studio from about 1752. In 1755 he joined Ramsay in Rome and probably returned with him to London in 1757, working as his chief assistant, producing copies of…
