Burns: Authentic Likenesses

An essay Basil C, Skinner, who at the time of publication was Assistant Keeper at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, in which he attempts to establish the authenticity of the likeness to the real-life Burns.

Basil Skinner observed that only a very small part of all artistic presentations of Robert Burns can be regarded as in any way authentic. Insisting that an "authentic" portrait must have been painted directly from the sitter and be backed up by some corroborative evidence as to the event, Skinner argues that the Nasmyth portraits(1787 & 1828), the Miers silhouette(1787) and the Buego engraving(1787) are the only works that can be considered to be authentic representations of the Bard. The Reid miniature(1795/6) and the Peter Taylor oil(1786) could also be considered with some reservations.  

The much used aesthetically pleasing red-chalk portrait by Archibald Skirving(1796) Skinner points out is refered to by the artist in a letter to his brother as being "taken from a picture, for him(Burns) I never saw".

Some scuffing to the cover but otherwise a good copy of this original work with bright and clean pages throughout.

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