The Highland Family
Artist: Sir David Wilkie (British, 1785–1841)
Original Dimensions: 24" x 36"
Location: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
About Artwork: (1824) "Wilkie, a genre painter, served as a court artist under George IV and his successors. This painting, commissioned by the Earl of Essex in 1824, was exhibited by Wilkie at the Royal Academy in 1825. The scene’s rustic detail, as in the vignette of collie dogs lolling next to the open hearth, and its patriotic sentiment, which stems from the novels of Sir Walter Scott, explain the contemporary opinion that this work was not a costume piece but a "portrait painted from life." - (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)

Panel content
Panel content