For the many Robbie Burns Fans on Thetis:
From the New York Times. Free link to full article below.
"The whereabouts of a painting of Robert Burns by Henry Raeburn was unknown for two centuries. Now, the work is on display in time for the annual Burns Night honoring the writer."
When the world-renowned Scottish poet and lyricist Robert Burns died at age 37 in 1796, there was only one significant portrait of him — a modest oval painting by the artist Alexander Nasmyth. But many scholars later speculated that Henry Raeburn, one of Scotland’s most revered artists, had also created a painting inspired by the original.
The 200-year quest for this missing treasure of Scottish history has been chronicled in numerous written accounts. Most notably, according to the Edinburgh-based scholar William Zachs, Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes, reported in the International Psychic Gazette about 100 years ago on a séance that was held to try to find the painting.
“Burns fanatics were looking for it because it was described as a portrait of the greatest Scotsman painted by Scotland’s greatest artist,” Zachs said in a video interview.
Now, thanks to some sleuthing by Zachs and other experts, the painting has been recovered and is on display at the National Galleries of Scotland to coincide with Burns Night on Sunday, an annual holiday that honors the poet with traditional Scottish food, dance, readings and music."
(There are photos of the painting in the NYT article (byline: Precious Adesina" reporting from London)
Virginia V.