Friday 1 April 2011

Gavin Hamilton

Gavin Hamilton Biography


Scottish painter and dealer. Hamilton , educated at Glasgow University, arrived in Rome, where he was to remain for most of his life, in 1748 . He studied portraiture but, influenced by the architects James Stuart ( 1713 88 ) and Nicholas Revett ( 1720 1804 ), became an archaeologist and history painter. His work, which was admired by Winckelmann , was intended to emulate the heroic subjects and universal moral truths of Greek art. Much is now lost but known through the engravings which ensured him wide contemporary influence. Achilles Lamenting the Death of Patroclus ( 1763 ; Edinburgh, NG Scotland) and Hector Taking Leave of Andromache (1760s; Glasgow, Hunterian), which owe a compositional debt to Poussin , are typical Homeric subjects. The deliberate generality of his history paintings is fortunately absent in his few portraits. The 8th Duke of Hamilton with Dr John Moore and Ensign Moore ( 1777 ; Lothian, Lennoxlove) reveals him as a worthy rival to Batoni . Hamilton was also a dealer in old masters and antiquities whose coups included Leonardo's Virgin of the Rocks (London, NG) and the Warwick Vase (Glasgow, Burrell).

Gavin Hamilton

Gavin Hamilton

Gavin Hamilton

Gavin Hamilton

Gavin Hamilton

Gavin Hamilton

Gavin Hamilton

Gavin Hamilton

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