Artwork Information

Initially influenced by Hogarth, Ramsay combined intimate characterization with the baroque conventions to which he was exposed during his first visit to Italy between 1736-38. By the mid-1750s, however, under French influence, he developed a new, informal style, creating a 'natural' portraiture that influenced Reynolds, Gainsborough and Henry Raeburn. Celebrated as a conversationalist and a wit, he shone in such literary circles as those of Dr Johnson.