Sir George Mackenzie (1636–1691)

This portrait of Sir George Mackenzie, the Scottish Lord Advocate known as 'Bluidy Mackenzie' for his prosecution of Presbyterian Covenanters during the religious conflicts of the 1680s, depicts one of the most controversial figures in Scottish history. Mackenzie's vigorous prosecution of religious dissenters who refused to accept episcopalian church governance made him a villain in Presbyterian memory, but his legal scholarship — including the foundation of the Advocates' Library in Edinburgh — gave him an enduring positive legacy in Scottish intellectual culture. Kneller's portrait presents him as a man of power and authority, the official image of royal justice in Scotland rather than the persecutor of Presbyterian legend.

The legal portrait renders Mackenzie with the authoritative bearing appropriate to Scotland's chief prosecutor, Kneller's efficient technique capturing both the sitter's formidable reputation and his scholarly distinction.