(click on image to enlarge)

Maister Peter Lowe
19th century copy of orginal from the circle of Daniel Mytens
Oil on Canvas

Maister Peter Lowe was a surgeon and founder of the institution now known as the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow. He was born around 1550 and left his native Scotland in 1565 to pursue a medical education in continental Europe. After graduating, probably in Paris, he served as a surgeon to King Henry IV of France. On his return to Scotland, he settled in Glasgow around 1598. Finding himself displeased with the state of medical practice in Glasgow, he petitioned the King, then James VI, and was granted a Charter which enabled the foundation of a medical incorporation for Physicians and Surgeons. The College is unique in being the only College in the British Isles admitting both Physicians and Surgeons and Dentists.

The painting shows Lowe with greyed hair and a furrowed brow, with his hand resting on a charter. It was probably painted towards the end of his career, around the time of the College’s foundation.  It is uncertain who painted the portrait but it was likely undertaken by one of the Flemish artists in the court of King James VI. It is a 19th Century copy of an earlier work attributed to Daniel Mytens or a member of his circle.