Henry David Erskine, Twelfth Earl of Buchan c. 1805

Sir Henry Raeburn captured Henry David Erskine, the Twelfth Earl of Buchan, in paint on canvas. Notice the Earl’s confident yet relaxed stance, with his hand casually placed on his hip, a gesture that echoes the classical contrapposto. This pose, rooted in ancient Greek sculpture, suggests an ease and authority, linking the sitter to a lineage of power and grace. It evokes the sculptures of antiquity, but here it’s adapted, softened, to fit the modern gentleman. Consider the hat held loosely in his other hand. From antiquity into the Renaissance, a hat was a symbol of authority, but here the symbolic object is stripped of its power, held loosely, connoting the modernity of the sitter. Observe, too, the direct gaze of the Earl. It is a gaze that acknowledges the viewer, inviting a connection. This look, combined with the classical stance, draws the viewer into a complex interplay of tradition and modernity.