Archibald Skirving (14 October 1749 – 19 May 1819) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

portrait

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

. He was born at

Athelstaneford Athelstaneford () is a village in East Lothian, Scotland. It lies 3.5 miles (about 6 km) north-east of the market town of Haddington and about 28 kilometres (17 mi) east of Edinburgh. Battle of Athelstaneford According to popular legend, A ...

near Haddington.

Life

Archibald was born in

near Haddington the son of Adam Skirving. His younger brother Robert joined the army in later life. All three (father and sons) wrote poetry, but it is Adam who is best remembered as a songwriter. After studying both in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

and

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, he settled in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, where he obtained some fame as a portrait-painter. His most successful portraits were executed in crayon. The best known work is his pastel portrait of Robert Burns, executed partly from Nasmyth's famous portrait, and partly from Skirving's recollection of the poet, whom he met, it is said, at Edinburgh in 1786. This portrait was acquired by Sir Theodore Martin and is in the National Burns Collection. Other of Skirving's sitters were

Alexander Carlyle Alexander Carlyle MA DD FRSE (26 January 172228 August 1805) was a Scottish church leader, and autobiographer. He served as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1770/71. Life He was born on 26 January 1722 in the ...

, D.D., of

Inveresk Inveresk (Gaelic: ''Inbhir Easg'') is a village in East Lothian, Scotland situated to the south of Musselburgh. It has been designated a conservation area since 1969. It is situated on slightly elevated ground on the north bank of a loop ...

, the mother of

Jane Welsh Carlyle Jane Baillie Carlyle (' Welsh; 14 July 1801 – 21 April 1866) was a Scottish writer and the wife of Thomas Carlyle. She did not publish any work in her lifetime, but she was widely seen as an extraordinary letter writer. Virginia Woolf ca ...

Gavin Hamilton Gavin Hamilton may refer to: * Gavin Hamilton (archbishop of St Andrews) (died 1571), archbishop of St Andrews * Gavin Hamilton (bishop of Galloway) (1561–1612), bishop of Galloway * Gavin Hamilton (artist) (1723–1798), Scottish artist * Ga ...

, Isabella Fraser-Tytler, Professor

Dugald Stewart Dugald Stewart (; 22 November 175311 June 1828) was a Scottish philosopher and mathematician. Today regarded as one of the most important figures of the later Scottish Enlightenment, he was renowned as a populariser of the work of Francis Hutc ...

Elizabeth Liddell Elizabeth Liddell, later Mrs. Robert Hodshon Cay, (22 February 1770 – 1831) was an amateur British artist specialising in pastel portraits. She was wife of Robert Hodshon Cay, mother of John Cay, mother-in-law of John Clerk-Maxwell of Middle ...

, and

John Hunter John Hunter may refer to: Politics *John Hunter (British politician) (1724–1802), British Member of Parliament for Leominster * John Hunter (Canadian politician) (1909–1993), Canadian Liberal MP for Parkdale, 1949–1957 *Sir John Hunter ( ...

, principal of St. Andrews University. Skirving was eccentric, and did not pursue his art industriously. In later life he seldom produced more than one picture a year, his price being about one hundred guineas. He died suddenly at Inveresk Lodge,

East Lothian East Lothian (; ; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a Counties of Scotland, historic county, registration county and Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921. In ...

in 1819, and was buried at Athelstaneford churchyard. Some of his portraits are in the

Scottish National Portrait Gallery National Galleries Scotland: Portrait is an art museum on Queen Street, Edinburgh. Portrait holds the national collections of portraits, all of which are of, but not necessarily by, Scots. It also holds the Scottish National Photography Collec ...

, Edinburgh.

Legacy

Skirving's portraits including one of his father and a self-portrait are in the National Galleries of Scotland. The sculptor John Henning named one of his sons Archibald Skirving Henning in 1805, in Skirving's honour. He became an artist and he has a few paintings in public collections in the United Kingdom.

Descendants

His descendants include

Robert Scot Skirving Robert Scot Skirving (1859–1956) was a physician and surgeon in Australia. He was born in the United Kingdom. The University of Sydney named the Scot Skirving Prize (for Medicine and Surgery) in his honour. Life He was born on 18 December 18 ...

(1859-1956) who emigrated to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and grew to be an eminent surgeon there.

References

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Skirving, Archibald 18th-century Scottish painters 18th-century Scottish male artists Scottish male painters 19th-century Scottish painters 1749 births 1819 deaths People from East Lothian 19th-century Scottish male artists