Allan Ramsay

British 1713

Ramsay was born in Edinburgh on October 2, 1713 and was the son of the Edinburgh poet Allan Ramsay. He had started drawing portraits by 1729, and first trained at the Academy of St. Luke in Edinburgh before studying under Hans Hysing in London from 1732-33. Allan visited Italy from 1736-38, where he studied under Imperiali in Rome. He also drew at the French Academy there and had the distinction of being taught by Francesco Solimena in Naples. He settled in London in 1738 and soon became one of the most elegant and subtle of British portrait painters. Ramsay was patronised by many of the Scottish nobility in London.