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Portrait of David Hume is a 1766 portrait painting by the British artistAllan Ramsay. It depicts the historian and philosopherDavid Hume, a key figure in the Scottish Enlightenment.[1][2] The two men had a long connection as founders of The Select Society and Hume had consulted Ramsay on the first volume of his The History of England.[3] The Scottish-born Ramsay was a leading portraitist of the Georgian era. He enjoyed notable patronage from George III and painted a number of portraits of the Royal Family, and had previously painted Hume in 1754.[3]
In 1765 Hume had been serving as the chargé d'affaires at the British Embassy in Paris. He returned to London the following year where he was accompanied by Jean-Jacques Rousseau. They both sat to Ramsay for portraits intended as a companion pieces. A mezzotint based on the picture of Hume, produced by Ramsay's former pupil David Martin, was displayed at the Exhibition of 1767 held by the Society of Artists in London.[3] Today the painting is in the collection of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh.[4]