Rev. Dr. Walter Buchanan

Maker Henry Raeburn (British, 1756-1823)

Additional Title(s)

Unknown Man

ClassificationsPAINTINGS

Date1800-1810

Mediumoil on canvas

Dimensionscanvas: 30 × 25 in. (76.2 × 63.5 cm.) frame: 39 1/4 × 33 1/2 × 2 3/4 in. (99.7 × 85.1 × 7 cm.)

DescriptionThis half-length portrait depicts Reverend Doctor Walter Buchanan (1755-1832), Minister of Canongate Kirk in Edinburgh, UK.

Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. Gift of Charles M. and Martin de M. Hale in memory of their mother Carmen de Mora Hale

Status

Not on view

Label TextWalter Buchanan descended from a family of maltmen from Glasgow, who were involved in the ancient craft of malt production and brewing. Buchanan studied at the University of Glasgow, where he graduated in 1774, and four years later, he was licensed by the Presbytery of Glasgow. In 1789, he became a minister of the Canongate Kirk in Edinburgh and a Doctor of Divinity In 1805. He was a committee member of the "Edinburgh Society for Promoting the Mitigation and Ultimate Abolition of Negro Slavery," a society that deplored slavery and the mistreatment of Black people but was in favor of a cautious approach to abolition.
This painting was probably conceived as a pendant to a portrait of Margaret Stobie, the wife of Doctor Buchanan, whom he married in 1785. The portrait of Mrs Buchanan was painted by Sir Henry Raeburn in 1800-1810 and is now held by the National Trust for Scotland, the Georgian House.

Object number2001.31