Portrait of Martha Bruce, Countess of Elgin and Kincardine (1739–1810)

Ramsay's Portrait of Martha Bruce, Countess of Elgin and Kincardine (1739-1810), at the Scottish National Gallery, documents a significant Scottish aristocratic family whose later fame would rest largely on her son Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin, who removed the Parthenon sculptures from Athens. Martha Bruce married Charles Bruce, 5th Earl of Elgin, in 1759, making this portrait likely a relatively early one in her adult life. The Scottish National Gallery's collection of Ramsay's work is the most important in existence, holding numerous original commissions and studio works that document his career from its Edinburgh beginnings through his London and royal period. A Countess's portrait by Ramsay would be among his most carefully executed female commissions.

Ramsay's mature female portrait technique — developed through his Italian visits and his long practice with aristocratic female sitters — brought a luminous, delicate quality to silk fabrics, a precise observation of individual faces within idealised conventions, and a compositional confidence that arranged elegant figures without stiffness. The Countess portrait would deploy these capacities fully for one of Scotland's most prominent noble families.