Printmaker John Beugo was born in Edinburgh in 1759. He was the leading Scottish engraver of his day and made reproductive prints after portraits by Henry Raeburn, Joshua Reynolds and Alexander Nasmyth. Beugo was a friend of Robert Burns, and his portrait engravings of the poet are among his best-known…

David Erskine, later 11th Earl of Buchan, was an antiquary and unsuccessful political reformer. Schooled by his parents, both of whom had studied mathematics under Colin Maclaurin, he later attended classes at St Andrews, Edinburgh and Glasgow. After his succession to the earldom in 1767 he returned from his military…

Bordon's painting combines the rich colour of Venetian painters with the consciously ornate compositions of mannerist artists. He was born in Treviso but trained in Venice, possibly in Titian's studio. He came across the central Italian mannerist style through artists such as Vasari, who came to Venice to work on…