CERL Thesaurus

Previously thought to be a self-portrait of Gavin Hamilton, this drawing has since been identified as a work by Ozias Humphry of 1777. Hamilton spent most of his life in Rome where he worked as an artist, his style influenced by the antiquities that surrounded him. In addition to painting, he dealt in classical statuary, much of which he excavated himself. Between 1758 and 1777 he worked on a grand scheme of six large history paintings, their subjects inspired by Homer's Iliad, two of which are now in the collection of the National Galleries of Scotland. Through his own art, his antiques dealing and his assistance to young artists, Hamilton became a pivotal figure in the artistic life of Rome in the second half of the 18th century, and helped establish a taste for Neoclassicism in Europe.