Mid-Georgian Portraits Catalogue
John Home (1722-1808), Scottish minister and dramatist
- Gallery portraits
- All known portraits
- Biography and References
Dramatic poet, of Leith, Edinburgh, a kinsman of David Hume; fought against the Jacobites 1745; minister of Athelstaneford, East Lothian, 1746, but he offended the Scottish kirk as a dramatist and resigned 1756; the success of his tragedy Douglas 1756 eventually led to patronage from the King and Lord Bute; his last work, History of the Rebellion of 1745, appeared in 1802.
‘John Home was an admirable companion ... he was very handsome and had a fine person, about 5 feet 10½ inches, and an agreeable catching address; he had not much wit, and still less humour, but he had so much sprightliness and vivacity ... that he was truly irresistible and his entry to a company was like opening a window and letting the sun into a dark room’ (Alexander Carlyle, 1860).
This extended catalogue entry is from the out-of-print National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: John Ingamells, National Portrait Gallery: Mid-Georgian Portraits 1760-1790, National Portrait Gallery, 2004, and is as published then. For the most up-to-date details on individual Collection works, we recommend reading the information provided in the Search the Collection results on this website in parallel with this text.
‘John Home was an admirable companion ... he was very handsome and had a fine person, about 5 feet 10½ inches, and an agreeable catching address; he had not much wit, and still less humour, but he had so much sprightliness and vivacity ... that he was truly irresistible and his entry to a company was like opening a window and letting the sun into a dark room’ (Alexander Carlyle, 1860).
This extended catalogue entry is from the out-of-print National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: John Ingamells, National Portrait Gallery: Mid-Georgian Portraits 1760-1790, National Portrait Gallery, 2004, and is as published then. For the most up-to-date details on individual Collection works, we recommend reading the information provided in the Search the Collection results on this website in parallel with this text.