Friday January 23rd 2026
Dr William Zachs, who purchased the painting, with the re-discovered portrait of Robert Burns by Sir Henry Raeburn (on the left) and portrait of Robert Burns by Alexander Nasmyth (on the right). Photo taken by Nick Mailer.
Written by Midlothian View Reporter, Liam Eunson
A lost portrait of famous Scottish poet, Robert Burns, by the renowned artist Sir Henry Raeburn has been found after over 200 years.
The legendary painting is now on public display for the first time at the National Galleries of Scotland to celebrate Burns Night on Sunday.
Described as a ‘once-in-a-lifetime discovery’, the painting was found during a house clearance in Surrey and brought to an auction in Wimbledon in March last year.
The painting was purchased by Dr William Zachs who bought the rare artwork for £68,000 after the auction began at a starting rate of £300 to £500. Bought by Dr Zachs, who is the Director of Blackie House Library and Museum in Edinburgh and long-term Burns scholar and enthusiast, he understood the significance of the painting and purchased the portrait believing it could be the elusive missing artwork.
Commissioned in 1803 at the small fee of 20 guineas by the publishers Cadell and Davie, the painting’s original plan was to be engraved for future editions of Burns’s books, but the painting has not been seen since. Its whereabouts remain a mystery for many decades.
In 1924 TCF Brotchie, the Director of Glasgow Art Galleries and Museums, wrote that the painting’s discovery would be ‘an event bordering upon the sensational’. Lovers of Burns and art experts have long debated the painting’s location. This released much press and journal coverage over the decades, as various portraits of Burns were attributed to Raeburn. However, all of these guesses were dismissed and the painting remained lost until now.
Robert Burns (1759–1796), Scotland’s national poet, has had a lasting influence on literature, music and popular culture. His work continues to shape Scotland’s cultural identity and resonates with audiences worldwide. The original 1787 portrait was painted by the Edinburgh-born artist Alexander Nasmyth as part of a marketing strategy for the second (Edinburgh )edition o fBurns’s breakthrough book, Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect. This painting, which is now recognised across the world, is part of Scotland’s national art collection. Despite Nasmyth’s move away from portraiture towards landscape painting, he took the job, declining to accept a fee, as he became a friend of Burns.
Following the publication of the second edition of his poems, in 1787, Burns became a social phenomenon. The inclusion of an engraving of Nasmyth’s portrait made the poet an instantly recognisable celebrity. Burns had already achieved fame by the end of his short life, having passed away at just 37 years old, but became a Scottish national icon in the 19th and 20th centuries. Such was his popularity that in 1802 the publishers Cadell & Davies decided to commission a new version of Nasmyth’s original1787portrait for use in future publications. By this time Burns’s close friend Alexander Cunningham was the custodian of the Nasmyth painting. He agreed to the proposal, advising that there was only one choice of artist, Henry Raeburn (1756–1823). One of Scotland’s most celebrated painters, Raeburn was a leading portraitist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He is renowned for his powerful, direct style and iconic portraits of Scots. Over the years correspondence between Raeburn and Cadell & Davies, regarding both the commission and the delivery of the painting, has come to light. This proved the existence of the artwork, although with no clues as to where it ended up. One letter dated 22 February 1804 from Raeburn reads: ‘Nothing could be more gratifying to me than the approbation you express of the copy I made’
For the first time, Raeburn and Nasmyth’s paintings will go on display side by side at the National gallery on the Mound in Edinburgh ,to allow visitors to make their own comparisons of the two portraits.
Talking on his historic discovery, Dr William Zachs explained:
“This week at Burns Suppers in Scotland and around the world we toast the Immortal Memory of the poet.
“Now we have a new immortal visual memory – a once lost painting by Sir Henry Raeburn, the Scottish great portrait artist, that depicts Robert Burns not just as a genius poet but as a celebrated (and handsome) Scotsman whose significance would endure ‘till a’ the seas gang dry’.”
Dr Zachs with the rediscovered painting, showing Raeburns portrait up-close (photo by Nick Mailer).
Whilst the Raeburn painting’s commission was based on the Nasmyth portrait, the painting Dr Zachs purchased was transformed into a life-size portrait, using skills and expert brushstrokes to really bring Burns to life.
The painting has since been cleaned and examined, with several experts agreeing that this is the lost Raeburn portrait of Burns. The Raeburn attribution has been confirmed by: James Holloway, former Director of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery; Dr Duncan Thomson, former Keeper of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery; Helen Smailes, Senior Curator of British Art at the National Galleries of Scotland; Lesley Stevenson, Senior Paintings Conservator at the National Galleries of Scotland; and Dr Bendor Grosvenor, art historian.
With James Holloway describing the painting as a ‘once-in-a-lifetime discovery’ that is ‘thrilling for lovers of Burns and Raeburn’, experts have both confirmed the legitimacy of the portrait and shared their appreciation.
Dr Duncan Thomas, former Keeper of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, explained:
“The rediscovery of this portrait of Burns, after having disappeared for two hundred years, is of enormous significance, linking the poet with Scotland’s greatest artist. Although Raeburn was working from an image made by another painter, the portrait has that wonderful freshness of observation that marks Raeburn’s work at its best. It is more than likely that Raeburn had seen Burns in his heyday in Edinburgh a decade earlier, and had observed that glowing eye that had so impressed the young Walter Scott. The result is a portrait that speaks in an entirely new way of the warmth, the sensuality and the profound intelligence that we find in Burns’s poetry.”
The painting’s discovery adds significantly to the appreciation of Sir Henry Raeburn. It also adds a new dimension to the understanding of the cultural afterlife of Nasmyth’s 1787 portrait, already internationally famous as a symbol of Scottish national identity.
With extensive research having been carried out on the history of the painting, the discovery has been described as ‘the start of a journey towards a greater understanding of the compelling discovery’.
Pro-Vice Principal at the University of Glasgow, Professor Murray Pittock, added:
“Raeburn’s portrait of Burns shines with the glow which is typical of the painter. It shows the now-dead poet moving into the realm of legendary icon, a transition he was to accomplish within less than a generation. In that sense the Burns we celebrate today is Raeburn’s Burns, though until now we did not know it.”
Dr Zachs is lending the painting to the National Galleries of Scotland, to go on display for free from 22 January at the National Galleries Scotland: National on the Mound in Edinburgh.
Available until 21 July, the painting will then tour to the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum in Ayr.
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