A portrait of this eminent Man was engraved by Pennant, from a picture at
Holyrood House, in Part II. of his _Tour in Scotland_, p. 243. 4to. Lond.
1776. Lodge has an engraving from the same portrait in his collection of
_Illustrious Personages_. This is a strange circumstance; because, when
Pinkerton was about to include this portrait in his collection, Pennant
wrote to him, on 30th April, 1796, as follows:
"Give me leave to say, that I suspect the authenticity of my Cardinal
Beaton. I fear it is Cardinal Falconer or Falconieri. I think there is
a genuine one somewhere in Scotland. It will be worth your while to
inquire if there be one, and engrave it, and add my suspicions, which
induce you do it."--Pinkerton's _Correspondence_, vol. i. p. 402. 8vo.
Lond. 1830.
Pinkerton made inquiry, and on Dec. 1st, 1797, writes to the Earl of
Buchan:
"Mr. Pennant informs me the Cardinal Beaton is false. It is, indeed,
too modern. A real Beaton is said to exist in Fife."--Pinkerton's
_Correspondence_, vol. ii. p. 17.
Lord Buchan writes to him that Mr. Beaton, of Balfour, believes himself to
have a genuine portrait of the Cardinal, and offers it for engraving. The
authenticity of this portrait, however, appears not to have been
established, and it was not engraved. Another was found at Yester, and was
at first concluded to be a genuine original: but Lady Ancram soon
discovered that it possessed no marks of originality, but might be a good
copy: it was, however, certainly _not_ one of the six cardinals purchased
by the third Earl of Lothian. Finally, it was rejected altogether. A copy
of a portrait from the Vatican was also rejected as undoubtedly spurious.
It appears, therefore, that Pinkerton, in this case at least, exercised
caution in the selection of his subject for engraving, so far as concerned
authenticity. His criticism, that the Holyrood House portrait is "too
modern," will be agreed in by all who will take the trouble to compare the
portrait in Lodge with undoubted portraits of the time: the style is too
modern by a hundred years. But the portrait is of a man upwards of sixty
years old: Beaton was murdered in 1546, in the fiftieth year of his age.
The portrait is of a dark haired man without beard.
I now come to a portrait of Beaton which there appears reason to think is
genuine, and I beg the favour of your correspondents to give me any
information in their power regarding it. This portrait is in the Roman
Catholic College at Blairs, near Aberdeen. It was in the Scotch College at
Rome down to the period of the French occupation of that city in 1798, and
formed part of the plunder {434} from that college. It was subsequently
discovered in a sale-room by the late Abbé Macpherson, rector of the same
college, who purchased it and sent it to Blairs, where it has been for,
now, a good many years. That it is a portrait of Beaton's time is certain;
but the artist is unknown, and the picture has sustained damage. It is
attributed, by a competent judge, who has himself painted two careful
copies of it, to Titian, not only from its general style and handling, but
from certain peculiarities of canvas, &c., on which latter circumstances,
however, he does not lay much stress, taking them only as adminicles in
proof. The portrait is a half-length, about 2 ft. 6 in. by 2 ft.: it is
that of a fresh-coloured, intellectual man, of forty-five or upwards; hazel
eyes; hair slightly reddish, or auburn, just becoming tinged with grey; a
thin small beard; costume similar to that of Holbein's Cardinal Wolsey, in
the hall of Christchurch, Oxford. It bears this inscription, painted at the
bottom of the portrait, and over the original finished painting, and
therefore of a subsequent date:
"David Betonius, S.R.E., Card. Archiep. S. Andreæ in Scotia, ab
Hostibus Fidei Barbare Trucidatus."
Beaton was elected to the Cardinalate in Dec. 1538; did he visit Rome after
that? He was at all events in Paris. The Scotch College at Rome was a
natural habitat for a portrait of a Scottish churchman so famous as
Cardinal Beaton, and it would be strange indeed if they had not one of him
where they affected a collecion of portraits of British prelates. I propose
to have this portrait engraved, if its probable authenticity cannot be
shaken. Did Pinkerton engrave any portrait of Beaton? There is none in my
copies of his _Iconographia Scotica_, 1797, and his _Scottish Gallery_,
1799. These contain several duplicates; but it is rare to meet with copies
that can be warranted perfect. If the portrait be published, it will
probably be accompanied by a short memoir, correcting from authentic
documents some of the statements of his biographers: any information either
as to the portrait or his life will be thankfully acknowledged. One or two
letters from Lord Buchan, on the subject of Scottish Portraits, appeared in
the _Gentleman's Magazine_, vol. lxv., but not relating to this particular
one.