European Art and Old Masters

Note

Brother of John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll, Archibald Campbell studied civil law at Eton College and the University of Edinburgh and famously appears in Robert Louis Stevenson’s David Balfour. Less proactive on the military field that his brother, he still joined the Army in 1703 and fought under the Duke of Marlborough for a time. Following the treaty of the Union, he was elected as one of the sixteen Scottish peers to sit in the House of Lords alongside Daniel Campbell.

While there are a few known versions of Aikman’s portrait of the Second Duke, the present work seems to be the only representation of his brother, the Third Duke, of whom there are relatively few surviving portraits other than two later works by Ramsay. Daniel Campbell presumably commissioned the two portraits of the Second and Third Dukes of Argyll both out of clan loyalty as Chiefs of the Campbell clan, but also to acknowledge, and honor his business relationship with them. Daniel Campbell indeed became their principal banker at the turn of the 18th century, his wealth eventually exceeding theirs considerably. It is recorded that the Second Duke originally asked Daniel Campbell’s advice as to whether he should buy the island of Islay, and when Daniel considered the advantageous proposition, outbid the Duke and bought it himself instead.