A lost portrait of poet, Robert Burns, by the artist Sir Henry Raeburn has been found after more than two centuries.
The painting is now on public display for the first time to celebrate Burns Night on 25 January National Galleries Scotland: National, on the Mound in Edinburgh.
The painting was found during a house clearance in Surrey and consigned to auction in Wimbledon, London in March 2025. With a starting price of between £300 – £500, the winning bid was £68,000. A triumph against all the odds, Dr William (Bill) Zachs, Director of Blackie House Library and Museum in Edinburgh and long-term Burns scholar and enthusiast, understood the potential significance of the painting and purchased the portrait believing it could be the elusive missing artwork. The painting has since been cleaned, and examined by experts, who confirm that it is, indeed, the lost Raeburn portrait.
Commissioned in 1803 ─ at a fee of 20 guineas ─ by the publishers Cadell & Davies, the painting was to be engraved for future editions of Burns’s books, but, the painting has not been seen since. Its whereabouts remained a mystery for many decades. In 1924 TCF Brotchie, the Director of Glasgow Art Galleries and Museums, wrote that the painting’s discovery would be ‘an event bordering upon the sensational’. Lovers of Robert Burns and art experts alike have long debated the painting’s location. This resulted in much press and journal coverage over the decades, as various portraits of Burns were attributed to Raeburn. However, all were dismissed and the painting remained lost until now.
Robert Burns (1759–1796), regarded as the country’s national poet, has had a lasting influence on literature, music and popular culture. His work continues to shape Scotland’s cultural identity and resonates with audiences worldwide. The original 1787 portrait was painted by the Edinburgh-born artist Alexander Nasmyth as part of a marketing strategy for the second (Edinburgh) edition of Burns’s breakthrough book, Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect. This painting, which is now recognised across the world, is part of Scotland’s national art collection. Despite Nasmyth’s move away from portraiture towards landscape painting, he took the job, declining to accept a fee, as he became a friend of Burns. For the first time, Raeburn and Nasmyth’s paintings will go on display side by side at the National gallery on the Mound in Edinburgh, to allow visitors to make their own comparisons of the two portraits.
While the commission was to be based on the Nasmyth, Raeburn transformed the painting into a life-size portrait, using his instantly recognisable skills and expressive brushstrokes to bring Burns to life. Thin paint layers are applied in the artist’s characteristic direct manner using a warm palette of colours, capturing the essence of the poet effortlessly.
The painting has since been cleaned and examined, with several experts agreeing that this is the lost Raeburn portrait of Burns. The Raeburn attribution has been confirmed by: James Holloway, former Director of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery; Dr Duncan Thomson, former Keeper of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery; Helen Smailes, Senior Curator of British Art at the National Galleries of Scotland; Lesley Stevenson, Senior Paintings Conservator at the National Galleries of Scotland; and Dr Bendor Grosvenor, art historian.
The discovery of the painting promises to add significantly to our appreciation of Scotland’s greatest portrait painter, Sir Henry Raeburn. It also adds a new dimension to our understanding of the cultural afterlife of Nasmyth’s 1787 portrait, already internationally famous as a symbol of Scottish national identity.
William Zachs is lending the painting to the National Galleries of Scotland, to go on display for free from 22 January at National Galleries Scotland: National on the Mound in Edinburgh. It will then tour to the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum (National Trust for Scotland) in Alloway from 21 July.
