Hugh Ramsay’s Self-Portrait: Re ections on a Spanish Master Painter

Resumen

The interest in European masters from the past was a phenomenon related to the development of the artistic careers of many artists in Australia at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth century. More than that, the copying or emulation of great works of art was seen to be a necessary part of an artist’s training1. This paper looks at Hugh Ramsay and his fascination with the painting Las Meninas (1656) by Vela?zquez as part of a larger study into understanding how the Spanish in uence was re ected in Australian art. Ramsay introduced elements from Las Meninas into his Portrait of the artist standing before easel, which took him to personify the role of the painter as Vela?zquez.