Sir Joseph Noel Paton (1821-1901)
Amelia Robertson Hill (née Paton), 1820-1904
1872
Marble
Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh
Amelia Hill's fine portrait bust of her brother, the Scottish Pre-Raphaelite artist Sir Joseph Noel Paton (1821-1901), is full of character. He was, in fact, a man of great presence, with startlingly red bushy hair, and "almost Herculean in breadth of shoulder and depth of chest" (qtd. in Bown). Paton is best known for his paintings of Oberon and Titania; but it is quite hard to imagine such a man choosing to paint fairies. Indeed, Amelia's husband encouraged him to seek alternative subjects lest people should suppose that "you can do nothing else, and that you are raving mad" (qted. in Bown).
