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Robert Burns

(1759-1796), Poet

Mid-Georgian Portraits Catalogue Entry

Sitter associated with 13 portraits
Robert Burns was born into a struggling farming family in the lowlands of Scotland, where he was brought up on a rich oral culture of folk songs and tales in the Scots dialect. He was also taught to read and write in English and Latin. His first major publication, Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect (1786), was presented and received as the work of an uneducated ploughman poet writing songs about the rural world around him. The book was immediately popular and its success was a factor in Burns abandoning plans to emigrate to Jamaica, made during a crisis in his personal life. He later published an abolitionist poem, ‘The Slave’s Lament’. Despite struggling with depression and the consequences of numerous affairs, as well as working as a farmer and exciseman, Burns continued to write and publish poetry until his early death at 37. On his death he was recognised as Scotland’s national bard, a position he has held ever since.

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Robert Burns, by Alexander Nasmyth - NPG 46

Robert Burns

by Alexander Nasmyth
oil on canvas, circa 1821, based on a work of 1787
On display in Room 3 on Floor 3 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 46

Robert Burns, by Edward Mitchell, after  Alexander Nasmyth - NPG D32442

Robert Burns

by Edward Mitchell, after Alexander Nasmyth
line engraving, (1787)
NPG D32442

Robert Burns, by John Beugo, after  Alexander Nasmyth - NPG D13790

Robert Burns

by John Beugo, after Alexander Nasmyth
stipple engraving, published 1787
NPG D13790

Robert Burns, by Paton Thomson, after  Alexander Nasmyth - NPG D32441

Robert Burns

by Paton Thomson, after Alexander Nasmyth
line engraving, published 1798
NPG D32441

Robert Burns, published by James Cochrane & Co, after  John Miers - NPG D16378

Robert Burns

published by James Cochrane & Co, after John Miers
line engraving, published 1834 (1787)
NPG D16378

Fictitious portrait of Robert Burns, by John Burnet, after  Sir William Allan - NPG D32438

Fictitious portrait of Robert Burns

by John Burnet, after Sir William Allan
line engraving, circa 1838
NPG D32438

Robert Burns, by John Christian Zeitter, after  Alexander Nasmyth - NPG D32440

Robert Burns

by John Christian Zeitter, after Alexander Nasmyth
mezzotint, published 1839
NPG D32440

Robert Burns, after Alexander Nasmyth - NPG D32439

Robert Burns

after Alexander Nasmyth
gravure, late 19th century
NPG D32439

Web image not currently available

Robert Burns ('Burns in the Storm of 1793')

by George H. Every, published by J.H. Wilson, after James M. Scrymgeour
mixed-method engraving, circa 1848
NPG D49696

Web image not currently available

Robert Burns

by Robert Bowyer Parkes, published by Paul and Dominic Colnaghi & Co, after Alexander Nasmyth
mixed-method engraving, published 5 June 1888
NPG D49695

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