Scottish Portraits as Biography: Henry Raeburn - a Portrait of the Enlightenment

Episode 2 Scottish Portraits as Biography: Henry Raeburn - a Portrait of the Enlightenment When James Holloway, director of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, heard about a previously unknown portrait by Henry Raeburn for sale at an unlikely auction house in London, he was intrigued. The subject was the architect, James Gillespie Graham, responsible for some of the grandest classical architecture Edinburgh’s New Town. His interest became acute when the picture went unsold. James tells what happened next – and why the portrait sums up Raeburn’s technical brilliance as an artist capturing glimpses into the sitter’s personality across moments in time.