Hector's Farewell to Andromache by Gavin Hamilton

Acquisition of painting by Gavin Hamilton (1723-1798), Hector's Farewell to Andromache, c 1775-1776. Hamilton was the most celebrated artist to have studied at the University of Glasgow. He was also a leading antiquarian and picture dealer, and spent most of his career in Rome. This picture was the last in an ambitious cycle of six works illustrating Homer's Iliad. Three survive: one in the National Galleries of Scotland, one in a private collection, and this painting, commissioned by the Duke of Hamilton. Hamilton's Homeric paintings established him as a key figure in the development of 'History Painting', then regarded as the highest branch of art.