I can prove skating minister was painted by Raeburn, says expert

Dr Duncan Thomson, a former keeper of the National Portrait Gallery, says that Raeburn’s "signature" is evident across the famous painting to anyone who understands his style.

In particular, he says the way the black of the Rev Walker’s coat shines through the white material of his cravat is "absolutely typical Raeburn".

"But it is not just this. I can see Raeburn’s hand at various points," said Dr Thomson. "Ultimately, it’s made up of thousands of brushstrokes - you can use the word ‘handwriting’."

Dr Thomson spoke out after a senior curator at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Dr Stephen Lloyd, questioned the painting’s origin.

Dr Lloyd will argue in a lecture later this month that the masterpiece of Scottish art was actually painted by a little-known French artist. It is understood that the director-general of the National Galleries of Scotland, Sir Timothy Clifford, shares this view.

The debate is particularly controversial as the image of the soberly dressed minister skating across the loch adorns mugs, mouse mats, diaries and ties in the National Gallery’s shops. The design was also the inspiration for the external panels on the new Scottish Parliament.

But Dr Thomson has told The Scotsman that he will now give a lecture that will end the debate, and prove that Raeburn is behind the painting.

"It’s a peculiar handwriting," he said of the work. "There are areas in the background, for instance, or the line of the lapel on the coat that are typical Raeburn; the way one long, continuous brushstroke delineates the line of the coat.

"Another feature of Raeburn in this painting is that you can now see where the hat used to be before he changed its position. It was more horizontal at one time.

"There are lots of these changes visible in Raeburn’s paintings. You couldn’t see it initially, but 150 years later you can see it because the paint is becoming invisible."

The origins of the "Skating Minister" have always been unclear. The picture, which is unsigned, was painted in the 1790s. From the time of the Rev Walker’s death in 1808, the portrait was passed down through his family, but did not appear in any Raeburn catalogues.

It was bought for Scotland in 1949, at Christie’s in London, for 525. It had been sold 20 years earlier by one of the Rev Walker’s descendants.

Dr Lloyd has questioned Raeburn’s involvement with the masterpiece, saying only "family tradition" identified it as a Raeburn work.

He argues it was more likely to have been the work of a relatively unknown French artist, Henri-Pierre Danlaux, who fled to Scotland in the late 1790s to escape persecution during the French Revolution. Dr Thomson claims that when he first heard about the competing theory, he offered to join Dr Lloyd and Sir Timothy in a public debate on the painting. They turned him down, he said.

"I offered to both of them the chance to stand in front of the picture and debate the whole issue. But I’m afraid they haven’t responded to that offer."

He said Dr Lloyd had also failed to consult him before going public with his controversial claims.

Dr Thomson said: "He will be lecturing on the 29th, so obviously I am looking forward to hearing exactly what his evidence is. If the only evidence he [Dr Lloyd] has got is what I have read in the newspapers, then it doesn’t seem very convincing to me at the moment.

"He is also publishing an article in the Burlington Magazine, which is the Bible of art historians, on this theory.

"Again I have not seen the article and he has never discussed any of these points with me, even though I am reckoned to be - immodestly - the world’s leading expert on the work of Sir Henry Raeburn."

Meanwhile, Lib Dem MSP Jamie Stone has also criticised Dr Lloyd’s theory, dismissing it as "absolute rubbish".