Scotland's first major painter, Edinburgh-born Ramsay trained in London and Italy and this Europen influence was evident in much of his subsequent work. He became the leading British portrait painter of the late 1730s and '40s until rivalled by the emerging Joshua Reynolds in the 1750s. He establshed a studio in London where he received considerble aristocratic patronage and commissions. He returned to his native city in the mid 1850's and due to the influence of John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute - whose portrait is considered one of Ramsay's finest works - Ramsay became Court Painter to George III. An arm injury in 1773 seriously curtailed his painting and he devoted his later life to non-artistic pursuits. Ramsay's reputation faded somewhat in the 19th and 20th centuries but he has now regained his place as one of the pre-eminent artists of the 18th century.