John Runciman - Mary and Joseph Outside the Inn - Google Art Project

John Runciman (1744 – 1768 or 1769) 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 ...

painter known for Biblical and literary scenes. His works include ''Flight into Egypt'' and ''King Lear in the Storm'', both in the

National Gallery of Scotland The National (formerly the Scottish National Gallery) is the national art gallery of Scotland. It is located on The Mound in central Edinburgh, close to Princes Street. The building was designed in a neoclassical style by William Henry Playfa ...

Life

Born 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 ...

, Runciman was the younger brother of the better-known painter

Alexander Runciman Alexander Runciman (15 August 1736 – 4 October 1785) was a Scottish people, Scottish painter of historical and mythological subjects. He was the elder brother of John Runciman, also a painter. Life He was born in Edinburgh, and studied at ...

. His earliest surviving work is the 1764 etching, ''Taking-down of the Netherebow Port, Edinburgh'', which depicts the demolition of one of

's old city gates. In Edinburgh he produced a number of small oil paintings on religious themes, including the ''Flight into Egypt'' in the

, which shows the influence of

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (; ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), mononymously known as Rembrandt was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker, and Drawing, draughtsman. He is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in ...

. In 1767 he produced one of his finest works, ''King Lear in the Storm'', inspired by Shakespeare's play, which shows a tranquil king facing down a savage storm at sea. Also in 1767 he moved to

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 ...

and, after a few months, to

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, ...

, where he produced a painted ''Self-Portrait'', the etching ''The Return of the Prodigal Son'', and some drawings. Runciman took ill with

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

in 1768, and destroyed many of his works, partly due to harsh comments by his fellow painter James Nevay. He died in

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

in 1768 or 1769.

References

Duncan Macmillan. "Runciman." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. 11 April 2012.

Life

References

Further reading