broad that Scotland had become to them
little more than a memory. The work of the former was in many ways an
embodiment of the current dilettante conception of art, and kindred in
kind, though earlier in date, to that of Jacques Louis David
(1748-1825) under whose sway, towards the close of the century, classic
ideals came to dominate the art of Europe outside these isles. His
usefulness to Raeburn was chiefly that of a cicerone. There was little
of an archaeological kind with which he was unacquainted, and he was so
famous a discoverer of antiquities that the superstitious Romans
thought that he was in league with the devil. The landscapes of More,
though highly praised by Goethe, would appeal to Raeburn little more
than did the "sublime" historical designs of Hamilton. They were but
dilutions, frequently flavoured with melodramatic sentiment, of the
noble convention formulated by Claude and the Poussins. Raeburn, on
the other hand, had looked at man and nature inquiringly, and had
evolved a manner of expressing the results of his observation for
himself. Moreover he was past the easily impressionable age, and
turned his opportunities to direct and practical uses. He used to
declare that the advice of James Byres (1734-1818?) of Tonley, who, in
Raeburn's own words, was "a man of great general information, a
profound antiquary, and one of the best judges perhaps of everything
connected with art in Great Britain," was the most valuable lesson he
received while abroad. "Never paint anything except you have it before
you" was what his friend urged, and, while Raeburn, to judge from his
early portraits, did not stand greatly in need of the injunction, it
probably strengthened him in his own beliefs. Be that as it may he
seems to have used his stay in Italy principally to widen his technical
experience, and his work after his return was richer and fuller than
what he had done previously. No record of any special study he may
have undertaken or of the pictures he particularly admired exists.
Even gossip is silent as regards his preferences, except in so far as
it is said that while in Rome he came near to preferring sculpture to
painting.

V.

Arrived back in Edinburgh in 1787, Raeburn took a studio in the new
town, and, with his enhanced powers and the added prestige due to his
sojourn abroad, soon occupied a commanding place. Few agreed with
Martin that "the lad in George Street painted better before h