Brief Biography-Sir William Fettes Douglas of Edinburgh only painted after a day’s work in the Commercial Bank of Scotland for ten years. His father, an amateur watercolourist, eventually permitted William to enter the Royal Scottish Academy for tuition; however, he only studied formally for a few months. The Academy quickly recognised his talents, and he was elected an Associate in 1851 and an Academician in 1854. He toured Italy in 1857, and five years later, he exhibited at the Academy in London. He became curator of the Scottish National Gallery in 1877 and was president of the Royal Scottish Academy in 1882. In the same year, he was knighted and received the honour of LL two years later. D from Edinburgh University. Apart from occult and romantic subjects, he painted genre, historical scenes, and landscapes. Still life was a speciality was a speciality he also enjoyed, besides being an antiquarian and historian. He died in Newburg, Fife, in 1891. Douglas was the leading still-life painter of Scotland in his time.