George Gordon (1770–1836), 5th and Last Duke of Gordon

George Gordon, 5th and Last Duke of Gordon, painted by Lawrence around 1800 and now in the Aberdeen Archives, Gallery and Museums, is documented as the last holder of the dukedom that would become extinct upon his death in 1836. The Gordons had been among the most powerful families in Scotland for over four centuries, their castle at Huntly and their influence across Aberdeenshire representing a feudal power that had survived the Reformation, the Civil Wars, and the Jacobite risings. The 5th Duke was known partly through his formidable wife Jane Maxwell, the Duchess of Gordon, who recruited soldiers for the Gordon Highlanders regiment by holding the King's shilling between her teeth for recruits to take — a story that, true or apocryphal, captures the performative martial culture of Highland aristocracy. The Aberdeen Archives' holding connects the portrait to the city most directly associated with Gordon family power, preserving the image of the last Duke in the region his family had dominated. Lawrence's portrait treats the Scottish aristocrat with the same formal authority he brought to all his high-rank male subjects, the compositional grandeur of the full-length format asserting the dignity that would not survive the Duke's death.

The portrait conveys a sense of aristocratic distinction through careful attention to the Duke's features and bearing. Lawrence's restrained palette and composed arrangement suit the gravity of a figure who represented the end of a great Scottish dynasty.