THE SCOTTISH NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

CAMPBELL OF GLENORCHY FAMILY TREE (1635) BY GEORGE JAMESONE

This is an unusual picture, comprising multiple portraits, commissioned by a patron with an early interest in family genealogy. The stylised cherry tree with colourful roundels hanging from its branches has the recumbent figure of Lord Campbell at the bottom, painted to look like medieval representations of the Tree of Jesse in the biblical book of Isaiah (a family tree, which shows Christ’s ancestors). This is the first ever exhibition on the Aberdeen artist George Jamesone the first great native-born Scottish portrait painter. (David Taylor, Senior Curator) 16 THE LIST 17 Nov–15 Dec 2011