About this artwork

This is one of Raeburn's best-loved portraits, but virtually nothing is known of Margaritta MacDonald's personality or life. She married Robert Scott Moncrieff, an Edinburgh wine-merchant and friend of Sir Walter Scott. She died in 1824 and her husband survived her for thirty years. During this time he kept her portrait permanently in his dining-room, and never remarried. The dating of the picture is a guess, based on stylistic grounds. In the last decade of his life Raeburn changed his style, partly influenced by Rembrandt's art, and worked in a more rounded manner, presenting forms in deliberate soft focus.

Updated before 2020

see media
  • artist:
    Sir Henry Raeburn (1756 - 1823) Scottish
  • title:
    Margaritta MacDonald, Mrs Robert Scott Moncrieff (died 1824)
  • date created:
    About 1814
  • materials:
    Oil on canvas
  • measurements:
    76.50 x 64.00 cm; Framed: 95.90 x 83.20 x 9.50 cm
  • object type:
  • credit line:
    Bequest of Robert Scott Moncrieff Wellwood to the RSA 1854; transferred and presented 1910
  • accession number:
    NG 302
  • gallery:
  • depicted:
Does this text contain inaccurate information or language that you feel we should improve or change? Tell us what you think.

Sir Henry Raeburn

Sir Henry Raeburn