[Illustration: AGE 16. _From a Sketch in Crayons by Himself._]
[Illustration: AGE 30. _From a Photo. by G. W. Wilson, Aberdeen._]
[Illustration: AGE 40. _From a Photo. by Fredelle & Marshall._]
[Illustration: PRESENT DAY. _From a Photo. by Raymond Lynde._]
Mr. John Pettie was born in Edinburgh, and exhibited his earliest works
in the Royal Scottish Academy. He came to London at the age of
twenty-three, and at the age of twenty-seven was elected an A.R.A. His
election to the distinction of R.A. took place when he was thirty-four,
in the place of Sir Edwin Landseer. Mr. Pettie's portraits and
historical pictures are within the knowledge of every reader--his
armour, carbines, lances, broadswords, and pistols are well-known
features in every year's Academy--for his subjects are chiefly scenes of
battle and of military life. His first picture hung in the Royal Academy
was "The Armourers," He has also painted many subjects from
Shakespeare's works; his "Scene in the Temple Gardens" being one of his
most popular productions. "The Death Warrant" represents an episode in
the career of the consumptive little son of Henry VIII. and Jane
Seymour. In "Two Strings to His Bow," Mr. Pettie showed a considerable
sense of humour.