Robert Burns: The portrait will go up for auction later this month.
A portrait of a young Robert Burns is expected to fetch £7000 when it goes under the hammer later this month.
The painting by one of Alexander Nasmyth’s children shows the poet sitting in a chair.
It dates from the winter of 1786 when the writer first went to Edinburgh. At 27 he was still working as a farmer but had published his first volume of poetry and was preparing for the second volume to go to print.
His patrons introduced him to Nasmyth and the pair became close friends. The artist painted the frontispiece of the Edinburgh Edition and his portrait of the poet hangs in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.
The painting which will be auctioned at Bonhams annual Scottish Sale is thought to have been created by one of Nasmyth’s children.
Chris Brickley from Bonhams said: "This is one of the earliest portraits we have of Burns. It was painted while he was tasting the first fruits of success as a poet and was almost certainly derived from a life study which gives the likeness an appealing freshness and immediacy."
