Elizabeth Gunning, Duchess of Hamilton (later Duchess of Argyll), 1733 - 1790. Famous beauty

This 1800 version of Elizabeth Gunning at National Galleries Scotland is a posthumous or late treatment of a subject Hamilton had first painted in 1752, nearly fifty years earlier. Elizabeth Gunning died in 1790, and the date of 1800 in the metadata raises the question of whether this is a copy, a version made from the earlier portrait, or a mistaken date. Hamilton himself died in Rome in 1798, which would make a 1800 date impossible for an autograph work. The work may be a posthumous copy or a studio version produced from Hamilton's earlier portrait. The persistence of Gunning's fame — her beauty was celebrated in memoirs and anecdotes for decades after her death — made her portrait a subject of continued demand long after both the sitter and the original painter had died.

A posthumous copy or version of an earlier portrait follows the compositional structure of the original while potentially updating minor elements of dress or background treatment. The technical handling may show differences from Hamilton's own manner if the work was produced by a copyist following his template.