Sir David Wilkie, R.A., engraved by William Holl the Younger after Andrew Geddes (1835)

From: Robert Chambers (ed.), A Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen (Glasgow: Blackie, 1835)

Sir David Wilkie painted Scott on three occasions: in the group compositions The Abbotsford Family (1817) and The Entrance of King George IV at Holyrood (1829) and in an individual portrait (1824). He also left a sketch of Sir Walter Scott Coursing (1817 or 1824). Besides painting a number of pictures inspired by Scott's fiction, Wilkie contributed illustrations to the Magnum Opus edition of the Waverley Novels. Scott was a great admirer of Wilkie's work. In chapter 10 of The Antiquary (1816), he describes Steenie Mucklebackit's mourning family as presenting 'a scene which our Wilkie alone could have painted, with that exquisite feeling of nature that characterises his enchanting productions'. The original portrait of Wilkie by Andrew Geddes was painted in 1821.