Alexander Hamilton

Alexander Hamilton (1767–1852) – 10^th Duke of Hamilton, Scottish politician and art collector. Known as a proud and impeccably elegant dandy and an advocate of Napoleon Bonaparte. It was to a commission from the Duke of Hamilton that the emperor’s portrait in his study at the Tuileries was painted by Jacques-Louis David. His somewhat eccentric interest in Egyptian mummies prompted the duke to have himself, upon his death, mummified and buried in a special mausoleum. After some time, however, when the mausoleum had fallen into ruin, the duke’s body and the sarcophagus were transferred to Hamilton Cemetery. A considerable part of Duke Alexander’s rich collection of paintings, books and manuscripts is held in the British Museum.