About this artwork
The donor who bequeathed this striking and enigmatic portrait to the National Galleries of Scotland was a direct descendant of Raeburn’s eldest step-daughter, Ann Leslie. It has been suggested that the unknown lady is actually Ann Edgar (the widow of James Leslie) whom Raeburn married in 1780. The style of the costume indicates that the portrait must have been painted during the early 1780s at the very beginning of Raeburn’s career.
Updated before 2020
see media-
artist:Sir Henry Raeburn (1756 - 1823) Scottish
-
title:A Lady in a Lace Cap (possibly Ann Edgar, Lady Raeburn)
-
date created:Early 1780s
-
materials:Oil on canvas
-
measurements:74.00 x 62.20 cm; Framed: 113.30 x 91.80 x 6.50 cm
-
object type:
-
credit line:Bequest of Miss Alice Leslie Inglis 1934
-
accession number:NG 1816
-
gallery:
-
artwork photographed by:Antonia Reeve
Sir Henry Raeburn
Sir Henry Raeburn
Originally apprenticed to a goldsmith, Henry Raeburn showed enormous artistic talent as a young man. In 1784 he moved to London where he met the important portrait painter Joshua Reynolds. He spent some time in Italy but returned to Edinburgh in 1787 where he began painting portraits of the rich,...
