About this artwork

This was painted for Dr Gregory (1753-1821), Professor of Medicine at Edinburgh and inventor of the once famous 'Gregory's Pills'. Raeburn exhibited the painting in 1814 as 'Portrait of a Jew' but in fact the costume is Polish rather than Jewish and there is no obvious reason for Raeburn's title. The artist's style here is influenced by Rembrandt who often portrayed rabbis and members of the Jewish community in seventeenth-century Amsterdam. It may be that Raeburn consciously tried to emulate Rembrandt's subject-matter as well as style in this striking portrait.

Updated before 2020

see media
  • artist:
    Sir Henry Raeburn (1756 - 1823) Scottish
  • title:
    Portrait of a Jew
  • date created:
    1814
  • materials:
    Oil on canvas
  • measurements:
    76.20 x 63.50 cm; Framed: 98.30 x 84.50 x 9.00 cm / 13.00 kg
  • object type:
  • credit line:
    Presented by Mrs F.C. Holland 1948
  • accession number:
    NG 2108
  • gallery:
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Sir Henry Raeburn

Sir Henry Raeburn