STRANGE, Sir Robert, an eminent engraver, who carried the art to great perfection in this country, and was distinguished not only us an artist, but highly respected and beloved on account of his private virtues and domestic habits. Modest as he was ingenious, he used to say that the works of an artist should serve for his life and monument. His works no doubt will perpetuate his name while any taste for the fine arts remains. He was born in the island of Pomona, in Orkney, on the 14th of July 1721, being lineally descended from David Strange or Strang, a younger son of the family of the Stranges or Strangs of Balcasky, in the county of Fife, who settled in Orkneyat the time of the Reformation. But as there were no males remaining of the elder branch of the Stranges of Balcasky, Sir Robert became the male representative of it, and was found by a legal investigation to have a right to the armorial bearings and every other mark of honour belonging to that ancient family. He received his classical education in Kirkwall in Orkney, under the care of a learned, worthy, and much respected gentleman, Mr Murdoch Mackenzie, who has rendered very important service to his country by the accurate surveys and charts which he has given of the islands of Orkney, and of the British and Irish coasts.

Originally intended for the law, Mr Strange soon became tired of that profession, and perceived that his genius decisively led him to the arts of drawing and engraving. For this purpose he was introduced to Mr Richard Cooper of Edinburgh, the only person there who had any taste in that department of the fine arts. He was bound with him as an apprentice for six years; during which time he made such progress in his new profession, that his friends entertained the highest expectation of his success; nor were they disappointed.[7:20:746] In the year 1747 he married Isabella, only daughter of William Lumsden, son of Bishop Lumsden; and soon after his marriage he went to France, where with the most ardent application he prosecuted his studies, chiefly at Paris, under the direction of the celebrated Le Bas, who engraved many excellent prints from the Dutch painters. It was from Le Bas that he had the first hint of the use of the instrument commonly called the dry needle; but which he afterwards greatly improved by his own genius, and which has added such superior beauties to his engravings.

In the year 1751 Mr Strange removed with his family from Edinburgh, and settled in London, where he engraved several fine historical prints, which justly acquired to him great reputation. At this period historical engraving had made little progress in Britain, and he may be properly considered as its father. The admiration which he always had for the works of the great Italian painters made him long desire to visit Italy, the seat of the fine arts; and the farther he advanced in life, he became the more persuaded that a journey to that country was essential to an artist who had the laudable ambition to excel in his profession. He therefore undertook this journey in the year 1760. In Italy he made many admirable drawings, several of which he afterwards engraved. In Italy singular marks of attention were everywhere bestowed on Mr Strange, not only by great personages, but by the principal academies of the fine arts in that country. He was chosen a member of the academies of Rome, Florence, and Bologna, and professor in the royal academy at Parma. To show the estimation in which his talents were held at Rome, we cannot but record the following anecdote. The ceiling of the room of the Vatican library, in which the collection of engravings is kept, is elegantly painted by Signor Roffanelli. It represents the progress of engraving; and the portraits of the most eminent artists in that line are there introduced, among which is that of Strange. Under his arm he holds a portfolio, on which his name is inscribed. In France, where he resided many years at different periods, his talents likewise received every mark of attention that could be bestowed on a foreigner. He was chosen a member of the royal academy of painting at Paris. Nor was he undistinguished in his own country. He received the honour of knighthood on the 5th of January 1787.

Such was Sir Robert Strange as an artist; nor was he less distinguished by his truly amiable moral qualities, which endeared him to all who had the happiness to know him. With regard to his works, he left fifty capital plates, which have been carefully preserved in his family. They are engraved from pictures by the most celebrated painters of the Roman, Florentine, Lombard, Venetian, and other schools. They are historical both sacred and profane, poetical, allegorical.

From his earliest establishment in life, Sir Robert carefully preserved about eighty copies of the finest and most choice impressions of each plate he engraved; which, from length of time, have acquired a beauty, mellowness, and brilliancy, easier seen than described. He did this with a view of presenting them to the public at a period when age should disable him from adding to their number. These he collected into as many volumes, and arranged them in the order in which they were engraved. To each volume he prefixed two portraits of himself, on the same plate, the one an etching, the other a finished proof, from a drawing by John Baptiste Greuse. This is the last plate which he engraved, and is a proof that neither his eyes nor hand were impaired by age. It likewise shows the use he made both of aquafortis and the graver. Each volume, besides a dedication to the king, contains an introduction on the progress of engraving, and critical remarks on the pictures from which his engravings are taken. These volumes were ready to be given to the public, when Sir Robert’s death delayed this magnificent publication. He died at London, 5th July 1792.

The following is an authentic catalogue of his works. Plate 1. Two Heads of the Author, one an etching, the other a finished proof, from a drawing by John Baptiste Greuse; 2. The Return from Market, by Wouvermans; 3. Cupid, by Vanloo; 4. Mary Magdalen, by Guido; 5. Cleopatra, by the same; 6. The Madonna, by the same; 7. The Angel Gabriel, by the same; 8. The Virgin, holding in her hand a book, and attended by angels, by Carlo Maratt; 9. The Virgin with the Child asleep, by the same; 10. Liberality and Modesty, by Guido; 11. Apollo rewarding Merit and punishing Arrogance, by Andrea Sacchi; 12. The Finding of Romulus and Remus, by Pietro da Cortona; 13. Caesar repudiating Pompeia, by the same; 14. Three Children of King Charles I. by Vandyke; 15. Belisarius, by Salvator Rosa; 16. St Agnes, by Dominichino; 17. The Judgment of Hercules, by Nicoas Poussin; 18. Venus attired by the Graces, by Guido; 19. and 20. Justice and Meckness, by Raffaello; 21. The Offspring of Love, by Guido; 22. Cupid Sleeping, by the same; 23. Abraham giving up the handmaid Hagar, by Guercino; 24. Esther a Suppliant before Ahasuerus, by the same; 25. Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife, by Guido; 26. Venus blinding Cupid, by Titian; 27. Venus, by the same; 28. Danae, by the same; 29. Portrait of King Charles I. by Vandyke; 30. The Madonna, by Correggio; 31. St Caecilia, by Raffaello; 32. Mary Magdalen, by Guido; 83. Our Saviour appearing to his Mother after his Resurrection, by Guercino; 34. A Mother and Child, by Parmegiano; 35. Cupid Meditating, by Schidoni; 36. Laomedon, king of Troy, detected by Neptune and Apollo, by Salvator Rosa; 37. The Death of Dido, by Guercino; 38. Venus and Adonis, by Titian; 39. Fortune, by Guido; 40. Cleopatra, by the same; 41. Two Children at School, by Schidoni; 42. Mary Magdalen, by Correggio; 43. Portrait of King Charles I. attended by the Marquis of Hamilton, by Vandyke; 44. Queen Henrietta, attended by the Prince of Wales, and holding in her arms the Duke of York, by the same; 45. Apotheosis of the Royal Children, by West; 46. The Annunciation, by Guido; 47. Portrait of Raffaello Sancio d’Urbino, by himself; 48. Sappho, by Carlo Doici; 49. Our Saviour asleep, by Vandyke; 50. St John in the Desert, by Murillo.