About this artwork

As the only surviving child and sole heiress of General Sir John Hope-Bruce of Craighall, Kinross and Arnot, Anna Bruce inherited a handsome fortune on her father’s death in 1766. Exceptionally, she retained her maiden name on her marriage to the Edinburgh surgeon Thomas Williamson in 1774. The muted colours and extreme delicacy of touch in this late Ramsay masterpiece suggest the influence of contemporary French art, especially the refined pastel portraiture of Maurice Quentin de la Tour.

Updated before 2020

  • artist:
    Allan Ramsay (1713 - 1784) Scottish
  • title:
    Anna Bruce of Arnot (died 1810)
  • date created:
    Late 1760s
  • materials:
    Oil on canvas
  • measurements:
    74.80 x 62.00 cm; Framed: 96.20 x 83.60 x 9.20 cm
  • object type:
  • credit line:
    Purchased 1907
  • accession number:
    NG 946
  • gallery:
  • artwork photographed by:
    Antonia Reeve
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Allan Ramsay

Allan Ramsay