David Allan (painter)

David Allan (13 February 1744 – 6 August 1796) was a Scottish painter, limner, and illustrator, best known for historical subjects and genre works.

In 1771 Allan sent two history paintings, Pompey the Great after his Defeat and Cleopatra Weeping Over the Ashes of Mark Antony (both now lost) to the exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts in London.

While in Italy he also visited the kingdom of Naples, where he was well received by the British ambassador Sir William Hamilton, who was brother-in-law to Allan's patron Lord Cathcart.

[1] In his final years Allan lived at the head of Dicksons Close on the Royal Mile, east of the Tron Kirk.

Allan also self-published several works, which combined the poetry of others with his own illustrations: "The Gentle Shepherd" and "The Cotter's Saturday Night".