About this artwork

The son of the Scottish judge, Lord Henderland, John Murray embarked on a legal career and was active in promoting the 1832 Reform Act, when he was Member of Parliament for Leith. Appointed Lord Advocate in 1834 and 1835-9, he was knighted and made a judge in 1839. He was also one of the original contributors to the famous journal, the ‘Edinburgh Review’.

Updated before 2020

  • artist:
  • title:
    Sir John Archibald Murray, Lord Murray, 1779 - 1859. Judge
  • date created:
    1856
  • materials:
    Oil on canvas
  • measurements:
    127.00 x 101.60 cm; Framed: 156.50 x 129.50 x 7.80 cm
  • object type:
  • credit line:
    Bequeathed by Lady Murray to the National Gallery of Scotland 1861; transferred
  • accession number:
    PG 1066
  • gallery:
  • depicted:
  • subject:
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Sir John Watson Gordon

Sir John Watson Gordon

John Watson Gordon was training to become an army engineer when, encouraged by his uncle, the painter, George Watson, and Raeburn, who was a family friend, he decided to become an artist. His first works were subject pictures but, after Raeburn's death in 1823, he established himself as the leading portrait painter in Scotland. His style was at first closely based on Raeburn but was later more influenced by his admiration for Velázquez. In 1850 he was elected President of the Royal Scottish Academy, appointed Queen's Limner for Scotland and knighted.