About this artwork
This portrait is one of a set, all by Aikman, depicting the eight members of the Worthy Club. The Worthies met weekly, initially above the Old House Tavern, Leith, and then at Newhall House, south of Edinburgh. Fellow members included Aikman himself, and the poet, Allan Ramsay senior. Aikman also included the landlady of the tavern, Mrs Forbes. Elliot, who studied law at the University of Utrecht, sat as MP for Roxburghshire before pursuing a successful career in the judiciary culminating in his appointment as Lord Justice Clerk. An archetypal Enlightenment man of many interests, he played the flute for the Edinburgh Musical Society and was instrumental in creation of Edinburgh’s New Town.
Updated before 2020
-
artist:William Aikman (1682 - 1731) Scottish
-
title:Sir Gilbert Elliot, 2nd Baronet, Lord Minto, about 1693-1766. Judge
-
date created:About 1726
-
materials:Oil on canvas
-
measurements:50.80 x 35.60 cm; Framed: 60.90 x 45.50 x 2.50 cm
-
object type:
-
credit line:Purchased 2002
-
accession number:PG 3307
-
gallery:
-
depicted:
-
subject:
William Aikman
William Aikman
The son and heir of an Angus laird, Aikman sold his estates to finance his training as a painter. He studied with Sir John de Medina in Edinburgh before travelling to London in 1704. In 1707 he left for Italy, where he may have worked with Carlo Maratta. He also visited Turkey. Aikman returned...