Robert Ronald McIan ( 1803 - 1856)

Scottish painter best known for depictions of Scottish clansmen, their battles and domestic life.

He taught himself to paint while acting and began exhibiting his work in the 1830s. His art focused on Scottish folklore and history, culminating in his most notable work, a series of illustrations for, The Clans of the Scottish Highlands. He worked closely with writer James Logan on The Clans of the Scottish Highlands and a sequel, Gaelic Gatherings: Or The Highlanders at Home, on the Heath, the River and the Loch (1848). The former was a comprehensive illustrated work on Scottish clans with descriptive histories and was dedicated to Queen Victoria.

McIan’s vivid and detailed lithographs of clan tartans and costumes fanned the romantic revival of interest in Gaeldom.