Elizabeth Gunning, Duchess of Hamilton and later Duchess of Argyll, 1733 - 1790

This 1752 version of Elizabeth Gunning's portrait at National Galleries Scotland represents a second or variant treatment of the subject from the same year as the Scottish National Portrait Gallery version. The double treatment reflects the demand for portraits of such a celebrated subject — a woman whose beauty was a social phenomenon required multiple likenesses for different family locations or different members of the social circle interested in possessing her image. Both paintings document Elizabeth Gunning at the moment of her transformation from admired nobody to titled duchess, the most spectacular social rise of the generation. The comparative existence of two versions also invites scrutiny of Hamilton's own practices in the repetition and variation of portrait commissions.

Variants of the same portrait subject made in the same year typically share compositional structure while varying in details of pose, dress, or accessories. Hamilton's two versions reveal his approach to repetition within the portrait genre — the core likeness is stable while secondary elements are adjusted to provide visible distinction between the two works.