John Burnet was educated with Wilkie in the first four years of his
studies in the Trustees’ Academy of Edinburgh; and, after arriving in
London, in 1806, witnessed the progress of nearly every picture of
familiar life which he painted. Burnet relates, that Wilkie was always
first on the stairs leading up to the Academy, (which was then held in
St. James’s-square,) anxious not to lose a moment of the hours of
drawing; and this love of art, paramount to all other gratifications,
continued with him to the last, even when his success had put the means
in his power of indulging relaxation and procuring amusement. When in
the Academy, his intenseness attracted the notice of the more volatile
students, who used to pelt him with small pills of soft bread. As he was
one of the first to be present, so he was one of the last to depart.
After Academy hours, which were from ten to twelve in the forenoon,
(the best time of the day for application,) those who were apprentices
returned to their several professions; but Wilkie invariably returned to
his lodgings, there to follow out what was begun in the Academy, by
copying from his own hands and face in a mirror: thus, as it were,
engrafting the great principles of the antique on the basis of nature.