RAEBURN, Sir Henry
(b. 1756, Stockbridge, d. 1823, Edinburgh)

Portrait of Mrs. Eleanor Bethune

1790s
Oil on canvas, 76 x 64 cm
The Hermitage, St. Petersburg

Raeburn, whom contemporaries respectfully called the "Reynolds of the North," founded a Scottish school of painting. Although a master of the society portrait, he preached unconditional fidelity to nature. His restrained palette and simple compositions are grounds for regarding him as expressive of the "Scottish spirit."