Jamesone certainly did complete an apprenticeship under the supervision of his uncle, John Anderson, who was a popular decorative painter in Edinburgh at the beginning of the seventeenth century.

While in Aberdeen, Jamesone made a name for himself painting portraits of local academics and scholars from the city's two feuding colleges: King's and Marischal.

For this occasion the painter was asked to decorate a highly elaborate triumphal arch with the portraits of all the past kings of Scotland.

Jamesone had homes and studios in Aberdeen (on Schoolhill opposite St. Nicholas Kirk) and in Edinburgh (on the Royal Mile right next door to John Knox House).

[9] Jamesone's pupil, John Michael Wright, also went on to be a highly important portrait painter in seventeenth century British art.