On this Day: October 13
1713
This day saw the birth of Allan Ramsay, the Enlightenment painter, in Edinburgh. His father was another Allan Ramsay, poet and author of The Gentle Shepherd. After studying in Italy, Allan Jr. became renowned as one of the best portrait painters of the Rococo era, and painted subjects as important as the future King George III.
His full-length portrait of the Duke of Argyll was used on Royal Bank of Scotland banknotes.