Core Record |
||
| Title | William Elphinstone, Bishop of Aberdeen | |
| Collection | Marischal Museum, University of Aberdeen | |
| Artist | Attributed to after Flemish School Attributed to Alexander, Cosmo (Scottish portraitist, ca.1724-1772) Attributed to Alexander, John (Scottish painter and engraver, ca. 1690-ca. 1765) |
|
| Date | 1747 (dated) | |
| Signed | yes | |
| Description | This eighteenth-century copy of the portrait of William Elphinstone, Bishop of Aberdeen, painted in about 1505 by a Flemish artist (University of Aberdeen), is attributed to either Cosmo Alexander (about 1724-1772) or his father John Alexander (about 1690 - about 1765). The portrait was commissioned by King's College, Aberdeen after the 1745 rising. The Alexanders were Catholic Jacobites from Aberdeen, and either would have been an obvious choice to copy the portrait. Cosmo Alexander had travelled extensively in Europe, painting many exiled Scottish and Jacobite sitters, including Prince Charles Edward Stuart. |
|
| Current Accession Number | ABDUA 30053 | |
| Inscription | front cl 'Non Confundar', ll 'Alex [... ]/ Pinxit/ A. D. 1747' | |
| Subject | portrait (Elphinstone, William, Bishop of Aberdeen) | |
| Measurements | 72 x 62 cm (estimate) | |
| Material | oil on canvas | |
| Acquisition Details | Commissioned by King's College, Aberdeen, after 1745. | |
| Notes | Both John and Cosmo Alexander worked for King's and Marischal Colleges, Aberdeen. The commissioning of this copy relates to Jacobite sympathies in north-east Scotland in the aftermath of the failed Jacobite rising of 1745. | |
| Rights Owner | The University of Aberdeen | |
| Author | David Taylor | |