Allan Ramsay

Flora Macdonald [Fionnghal nighean Raghnaill ’ic Aonghais Òig], 1722 - 1790. Jacobite heroine

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About this artwork

Flora Macdonald was a famous Jacobite heroine. After the defeat of Prince Charles Edward Stewart at Culloden, she helped him escape to the Isle of Skye by supplying him with female servant clothes. Although her involvement was brief, over time she has become one of the best-known characters of the Jacobite myth. This chalk drawing of Flora Macdonald was made by the famous eighteenth-century portrait painter Allan Ramsay. According to the inscription at the bottom, it was ‘for a picture’, but the only painting of Macdonald by Ramsay bears little resemblance to this sketch. Ramsay’s Flora takes on a classical pose and the rural costume and flowers in her hair, and the royal standard she proudly holds, are reminiscent of the portrayal of mythological shepherdesses.

Updated before 2020

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Allan Ramsay

Allan Ramsay