About this artwork
This self-portrait shows the artist sitting at his easel pointing to a painting that he has just completed. The inspiration for this composition came from a self-portrait by George Jamesone that was almost certainly at Castle Grant when Waitt was associated with Clan Grant. Jamesone’s portrait features the artist holding a palette whilst pointing to several of his paintings on the wall behind. In Waitt’s work, the painting of the nude on his easel (a rare example) is probably a representation of 'sight' from the traditional series of the five senses, explaining the little hand-mirror - and, of course, the unseen mirror into which Waitt himself looks. Or perhaps the woman, who gazes towards the artist rather than her mirror, symbolises the art of portraiture itself.
Updated before 2020
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artist:Richard Waitt (1684 - 1733) Scottish
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title:Richard Waitt, d. 1732. Portrait painter (Self-portrait)
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date created:1728
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materials:Oil on canvas
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measurements:107.00 x 127.00 cm; Framed: 118.20 x 138.60 x 5.10 cm
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object type:
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credit line:Purchased 1968
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accession number:PG 2142
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gallery:
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depicted:
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subject:
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artwork photographed by:Antonia Reeve
Richard Waitt
Richard Waitt
Waitt specialised in portraiture, but began his career as a decorative painter. His first recorded work is a coat of arms for the Earl of Hopetoun. He may have trained in the Edinburgh studio of the painter John Scougal and seems to have produced several different types of painting, notably still...