John Syme RSA (17 January 1795 – 3 August 1861) was a Scottish portrait painter.

He became a pupil and assistant of Sir Henry Raeburn, whose unfinished works he completed, and subsequently practised with success as a portrait-painter in Edinburgh.

[3] Syme was an original member of the Royal Scottish Academy, founded in 1826, and took an active part in its management.

was exhibited at the London Royal Academy in 1819, and went to the Scottish National Gallery; it was engraved in mezzotint by Thomas Hodgetts, as were also those of John Broster and Andrew McKean.

His portrait of the Solicitor General, Lord Cockburn, was deposited with the Academy as his diploma work.