Katherine Read was a pioneering and highly successful portraitist in pastels and oils, whose best work has often (since) been confused for that of her near-contemporary Francis Cotes (1726 – 1770). She was the first Scottish woman to train as an artist and was one of the most fashionable portraitists of the 18th century, painting royalty and gaining fame across Europe, where she was regarded as “The Rosalba of Britain”.