John Hope, 1739 - 1785.

Reynolds painted John Hope around 1769, depicting the Edinburgh-born soldier and botanist who had served in the British Army before returning to Scotland to become Regius Professor of Botany at Edinburgh and Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden. Hope was a central figure in the Scottish Enlightenment's engagement with natural history — he introduced Linnaean taxonomy to Scotland and trained a generation of Scottish botanists — and his portrait by Reynolds reflects the sustained engagement of Edinburgh's intellectual establishment with the most prestigious portraitist in Britain. Reynolds's knowledge of botany was limited, but his sympathy with the life of the mind made his portraits of intellectuals and scientists among the most engaged in his output. The National Galleries of Scotland's holding of the canvas connects it to a substantial representation of Reynolds's work in Edinburgh, where portraits of Scottish Enlightenment figures form one of the most coherent thematic groups within his overall output.

The portrait presents the sitter with characteristic warmth. Reynolds's handling captures the dual military and scientific identity.