Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research 99/397

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ARMY HISTORICAL RESEARCH

Geneva to Turin, the capital of the Kingdom of Savoy-Piedmont-Sardinia in mid- September 1764 and arrived in Rome in January 1765. 10 The splendid portrait by Pompeo Batoni that serves as the frontispiece for this issue of the Journal is said to date from 1765. Certainly that was the year in which James Boswell saw Batoni drawing the plaid in his studio. The pose is, presumably, one that the sitter struck, but to Batoni’s imagination must be attributed the representation of the plaid more in the form of an ancient Roman toga than the traditional style in which a Highlander would normally wear it. Gordon clearly entered into the spirit of this classical representation and the appearance of the Colosseum in the background and the statue of the Goddess Roma bear witness to his desire to mark his travels to the Eternal City and his appreciation of its ancient civilisation. Analysis of the portrait as military iconography rather than from an art- historical viewpoint, reveals a black cartridge box under the part of the plaid that encircles the sitter’s waist, and that would tend to indicate that the regiment’s officers, like others at that time, had opted to carry fusils – light muskets – rather than the more normal spontoons. Why Gordon felt it necessary to take an ammunition pouch to Rome may conveniently be left open to hypothesis, though the diligence of his valet in packing every last piece of his master’s military kit is to be commended. The bonnet, here shown seemingly in velvet and of a bright, mid-blue shade, appears in Gordon’s left hand and is not easily visible. It was adorned with a short, black ostrich feather. Though it is always stated that the plaid Batoni painted is in the Huntly tartan, this is not so. The artist was probably delightfully seduced by the artistic possibilities of the multi-coloured drapery but also greatly confused by it and unable to understand its design. He may also have been annoyed that so much work would have to be put into painting it and equally determined that he would charge for the labour required to depict this unusual garb. Though provided with stripes of colour arranged at right angles to each other, the design bears little resemblance to the more carefully observed tartans or brechans that can be found in Allan Ramsay’s portraits. It should also be borne in mind that the notion of a tartan pattern designated by the name of a clan or sept and only legitimately worn by entitled members of those groups, as is commonly accepted today, was an invention of the revival of the Scottish Highland dress in the 1820s. 11 The details of the body garments are clearly depicted in the painting, though the significance of the gold medal suspended from a scarlet ribbon on the right lapel remains a mystery. It appears to bear a man’s head in right profile. The terminal of the shoulder sword-belt has also given rise to questions. It is clearly a bull’s head affronté and it is proposed that it may be intended to show one of the

10 J. Ingamells, A Dictionary of Brtish and Irish Travellers to Italy, 1701-1800 (London: Yale University Press, 1997), pp. 409-410. 11 J. Telfer Dunbar, History of Highland Dress – A Definitive Study of the history of Scottish costume and tartan, both civil and military, including weapons (Reprinted – London: B.T. Batsford Ltd, 1979)