The Letter of Introduction

The Letter of Introduction
Artist	David Wilkie
Year	1813
Type	Oil on panel, genre painting
Dimensions	61 cm × 50.2 cm (24 in × 19.8 in)
Location	Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh

The Letter of Introduction is an 1813 genre painting by the British artist David Wilkie.^[1] It shows a young man in an awkward situation having called on a potential patron early in the morning with what turns out to be a worthless letter of introduction. The man, a gentlemen scholar, has an unwelcoming expression while his dog is noticeably hostile.^[2]

The painting was shown at the Royal Academy's Summer Exhibition of 1814 along with The Refusal.^[3] Today it is in the collection of the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh, having been acquired in 1938.^[4]

• Macmillan, Duncan. Scottish Art, 1460-2000. Mainstream Publishing, 2000.
• Tromans, Nicholas. David Wilkie: The People's Painter. Edinburgh University Press, 2007.
• Wright, Christopher, Gordon, Catherine May & Smith, Mary Peskett. British and Irish Paintings in Public Collections: An Index of British and Irish Oil Paintings by Artists Born Before 1870 in Public and Institutional Collections in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

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