Rare Burns portrait on show before birthday

(Image: Nick Mailer)

A long-lost portrait of Robert Burns is on display, for the first time, in Scotland’s national gallery ahead of the poet’s 267th birthday.

Painted by Sir Henry Raeburn, the portrait of the Ayrshire-born bard was lost for over 200 years before being discovered in March 2025.

The piece, which mimics Alexander Nasmyth’s famous portrait of Burns, was auctioned for £68,000 to collector William Zachs.

Edinburgh-born Raeburn was commissioned to design his take on Nasmyth’s painting in 1803, seven years after Burns died in 1796.

It is now on display at The National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh.

Zachs, director of Edinburgh’s Blackie House Museum and Library, said that acquiring the painting was “worth the risk”.

He remarked: “It was a huge gamble, but for the greatest Scottish poet painted by one of the greatest Scottish portrait painters, it was worth the risk.

“Now it’s back to the country where it all began.”

Patricia Morgan, head of European and Scottish Art at the National Galleries, added: “We are delighted to present it next to the Nasmyth portrait, reuniting three of the biggest figures of that period: Burns, Raeburn, and Nasmyth.”