(1736 - 1808)
Hugh Douglas Hamilton was born in Dublin, the son of a wig maker. He studied at the Dublin School of Drawing under Robert West, James Mannin and John O'Keeffe. He worked as a portraitist in Dublin, before relocating to London. During the 1770s he exhibited at the Society of Artists and later received Royal commissions. In 1779, he moved to Italy, where he painted pastel portraits of British and Irish Grand Tourists. He was elected a member of the Accademia del Disegno in Florence, in 1784. He returned to Ireland in 1792 and became the most fashionable portraitist in Dublin, exhibiting at the Society of Artists of Ireland. Towards the end of his life, some of his works were completed by his daughter. He died at the age of 68.
