Allan Ramsay, painter (1713 –1784)

Allan Ramsay Jnr was born in Edinburgh, the son of bookseller and poet Allan Ramsay (1684 –1758), and educated at the Royal High School.

Already making a name as an up and coming painter, Ramsay undertook a Grand Tour to Italy in 1736 to 1739. He became a hugely successful society painter in London and Edinburgh, and had a constant flow of commissions.

With David Hume (whom he painted) and Adam Smith, he founded the Select Society in Edinburgh in 1754 to encourage all aspects of debate ‘apart from revealed religion and Jacobitism’.

He was friendly with Swiss philosopher Rousseau, of whom he painted a portrait which is now in the National Galleries of Scotland, and the French philosophes Voltaire and Diderot, and influenced the work of painters Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Gainsborough.

Allan Ramsay revisited Italy in 1754–1757, became court painter to George III, and latterly lived in very grand style in London.

Ramsay Garden in Edinburgh, at the top of the High Street near the Castle, was built on the site of the Ramsay family home and was named after the father and son.

Picture credit: Ramsay Gardens in Edinburgh. Taken by Gary Thomson and published on Flickr.