Originally apprenticed to a jeweller, Raeburn's precocious talents as portrait painter were quickly recognised and he came under the tutelage of David Martin, Edinburgh's pre-eminent portraitist. He swiftly developed a distinctive, austere style, characterised by detailed brushwork for his subject contrasting with more broadly worked backdrops. His own Edinburgh studio, opened in 1798, began to attract rich and influential patrons and some of his most famous and acclaimed paintings include those of Highland chieftains and Sir Walter Scott. Raeburn is regarded as the principal Scottish portrait painter of his age.