Gilbert Elliot, 1st Earl of Minto

This portraitback to top

The donor, Canon Atkinson, wrote several letters to the NPG about his father's friendship with Lord Minto and believed the portrait to have been taken from life in 1813. This may be true but it does closely resemble the head in Chinnery's whole-length standing portrait painted in 1813 for Lord Minto himself and now on loan to the Scottish NPG (L301) where there is also Atkinson's ink and pencil drawing (335). Chinnery's portrait, one of at least four painted between 1811 and 1813, was engraved in mezzotint by Charles Turner in 1815 but Atkinson would almost certainly have been familiar with the original, then hanging in the Governor's house. The heads are similar, the peer's robes slightly variant. Canon Atkinson's letters (in NPG archive) also include an account of his father's illustrations to Minto's poem 'The Minto Vision'.

Physical descriptionback to top

Half-length head to right in peer's robes, left hand on table; white hair in queue, grey eyes, pale complexion.

Provenanceback to top

Given by the artist's son, the Rev Canon J. A. Atkinson, in 1890 together with a drawing of Lord Hastings.


This extended catalogue entry is from the out-of-print National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: Richard Walker, Regency Portraits, National Portrait Gallery, 1985, 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.

View all known portraits for James Atkinson

View all known portraits for Gilbert Elliot Murray Kynynmound, 1st Earl of Minto