Crypto DISRUPTION: The Art of Blockchain

Crypto Royalty at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery

Scottish history is exceptionally rich and cultured with many great leaders and key figures; kings and queens, philosophers, scientists, architects, artists, explorers and entrepreneurs. Portraits of these historical elite can be found on display in the opulent Scottish National Portrait Gallery situated on Queen’s Street in Edinburgh. As an addition to my cryptocurrency themed solo exhibition which opened Oct 2018  at the Dundas Street Gallery,  I transformed 28 Scottish nobility in the National Gallery into some of the 'royalty' of the crypto world.

​You can check out the video to watch the AR portrait transformations or download my free app CreativMuse at the App Store and Google Play links to scan these paintings below or visit the SNPG and scan the portraits on the walls. 

Why did I augment the National Portrait Gallery's paintings?

Throughout 2017, as I was researching cryptocurrency, there were a number of names that constantly popped up in articles and crypto social media groups. I decided to follow them on Twitter to find out more about who they were and what they had to say. In the process I discovered quite quickly that many of these people were admired and even glorified (or sometimes vilified) by the crypto community. I suspect some of these contemporaries will go down in history as the courageous leaders, 'explorers' and entrepreneurs of the 21st century. I wanted to be the first, in a creative way, to 'incarnate' these figures with technology and in a classical environment. ​
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I literally laughed out loud when the idea came to me to augment some of the Scottish nobility portraits and morph them into a selection of the crypto community ‘royalty’. I thought it was both fitting and amusing. Considering the AR stunts I've pulled at the Royal Scottish Academy (2014) and the ​​National Gallery of Scotland (2015) there was also an apt connection with my previous work.
There are so many interesting personalities in the crypto world, but I only had so much time and managed to augment just 28 portraits (still a lot of work!). I’ve missed out some people that I would have liked to have included but I also wanted to gather a diverse, cross section of crypto entrepreneurs and CEOs/COOs, coders/developers, writers/commentators etc. The pairing between contemporary and historical figure was often arbitrary but if there was a facial similarity, even better. There was also the morphing software I used to create a smooth transition into the video and therefore I had to think about the composition and pose of the painting's sitter and the first still image of the video clip produced.
I saw this National Galleries 'project' as an extension of my forthcoming solo exhibition at the Dundas Street Gallery as well as an opportunity to introduce more people to the world of crypto. The National Portrait Gallery was visited by 1.27 million people last year - now, anyone who downloads the free app CreativMuse and visits the gallery will be able to engage with and be ‘introduced’ to some of the key crypto figures. Finally, the video clips I selected for each person were chosen by, of course, what I could actually find online but also by its relevance ie., it needed to quickly be able to communicate some basic crypto concepts to what will likely be a mostly neophyte audience visiting the SNPG. 

The 'Crypto Incarnation'

Andreas Antonopoulos and Sir James Balfour by unknown artist, c. 1640
​Andreas M. Antonopoulos is a best-selling author, speaker, educator, and one of the world’s foremost bitcoin and open blockchain experts. He is a teaching fellow with the University of Nicosia, serves on the Oversight Committee for the Bitcoin Reference Rate at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
Sir James Balfour, 1st Baronet of Denmilne and Kinnaid (c. 1600 – c. 1658), of Perth and Kinross, Scotland, was a Scottish annalist and antiquary. He was knighted by King Charles I in 1630, was made Lord Lyon King of Arms in the same year, and in 1633 baronet of Kinnaird.
Arianna Simpson and Margaret Lindsay of Evelick by Allan Ramsay, 1758
Arianna is an early stage investor, with close to 40 investments to date. Before she started investing, Arianna was a PM at BitGo. Prior, she worked at Facebook in Global Marketing Solutions and at Y Combinator-backed Shoptiques, where she ran sales. She developed a strong interest in cryptocurrencies about 5 years ago, which is when when first started investing in bitcoin.
Margaret Lindsay (c. 1726–1782) was the eldest daughter of Sir Alexander Lindsay of Evelick. She is notable as a member of the Clan Murray, largely pro-Jacobite in sympathies. She was a member of the Clan Lindsay which joined the '15 Jacobite rising. She was married to artist Allan Ramsay.
Brad Garlinghouse and William Drummond of Hawthornden ​by Abraham Blyenberch, 1612
Brad Garlinghouse is CEO of financial technology company Ripple. He was formerly the CEO and Chairman of Hightail (formerly YouSendIt), the file sharing site. Prior to Hightail, he was President of Consumer Applications at AOL for two years, after his role as Senior Vice President at Yahoo! running its Communications business.
Drummond was a Scottish poet born at Hawthornden Castle, Midlothian in 1585 to John Drummond, the first laird of Hawthornden, and Susannah Fowler, sister of the poet and courtier William Fowler. Drummond's most important works are the Cypresse Grove and the poems, which exhibits great wealth of illustration, and an extraordinary command of musical English.
Brett King and General Thomas Dalyell by ​L. Schuneman, c. 1670
Brett King is a futurist, an Amazon bestselling author, an award-winning speaker, hosts a globally recognized radio show, and is the CEO of Moven. Brett focuses on how technology is disrupting business, changing behaviour and influencing society. He has fronted TED conferences, given opening keynotes for Wired, Singularity University’s Exponential Finance, The Economist, SIBOS and many more.
Sir Thomas Dalyell of The Binns, 1st Baronet (1615 – 1685) was a Scottish Royalist general in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Dalyell was born in Linlithgowshire, the son of Thomas Dalyell of The Binns, head of a cadet branch of the family of the Earls of Carnwath, and of Janet, daughter of the 1st Lord Bruce of Kinloss, Master of the Rolls in England.
Brian Armstrong and James Hutton by Sir Henry Raeburn, 1776
Brian Armstrong is the Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of Coinbase, the world’s leading digital currency exchange. Since co-founding the company, Armstrong has led Coinbase to serve over 10M customers across 32 countries, providing custody for more than $10B in digital assets. Armstrong was listed as Fortune 40 under 40. He holds three degrees from Rice University: Bachelor of Computer Science, Bachelor of Economics, and a Masters of Computer Science.
James Hutton ( 1726 – 1797) was a Scottish geologist, physician, chemical manufacturer, naturalist, and experimental agriculturalist. He originated the theory of uniformitarianism—a fundamental principle of geology—that explains the features of the Earth's crust by means of natural processes over geologic time. Hutton's work established geology as a science, and as a result he is referred to as the "Father of Modern Geology".
Brock Pierce and James Adam by Antonio Zucchi, 1763
Brock Pierce is an American entrepreneur known for his work in the cryptocurrency industry. In 2013, Pierce was involved in founding venture capital firm Blockchain Capital which was reported to have raised $85 million in two venture funds. On its launch in June 2017, the currency was named EOS and marketed through a new vehicle called Block.one
James Adam (1732 – 1794) was a Scottish architect and furniture designer and the son of architect William Adam. He designed several notable buildings in Glasgow, including the old Infirmary, Assembly Rooms and the Tron Kirk. James succeeded his brother Robert as Architect of the King’s Works in 1768.
Cameron Winklevoss and Sir William the Bruce ​by John Michael Wright, c. 1664
Cameron Winklevoss an American rower, entrepreneur, and founder of Winklevoss Capital Management and Co-Founder & President of Gemini a next generation digital asset exchange. Cameron and his twin brother Tyler became the first Bitcoin billionaires in 2017. 
Sir William Bruce of Kinross, 1st Baronet (1630 – 1710) was a Scottish gentleman-architect and "the effective founder of classical architecture in Scotland". As a key figure in introducing the Palladian style into Scotland, he has been compared to the pioneering English architects Inigo Jones and Christopher Wren, and to the contemporaneous introducers of French style in English domestic architecture, Hugh May and Sir Roger Pratt.
CZ and David Allen by Domenico Corvi, 1774
Changpeng Zhao, who goes by CZ, is founder and CEO of Binance, a cryptocurrency exchange that became the largest on the planet in just under 180 days. Binance can process 1.4 million transactions a second and on a peak day in early 2018 processed 3.5 billion new orders, cancels and trades. Binance is minting money, with $200 million in profits in the last quarter of 2017. CZ owns a large part of the company.
David Allan (1744 – 1796) was a Scottish painter and illustrator, best known for historical subjects and genre works. He was born at Alloa in central Scotland. On leaving Foulis's academy of painting at Glasgow after seven years' successful study, he obtained the patronage of Lord Cathcart, on whose estate he had been born. Erskine made it possible for him to travel to Rome where he remained until 1777, studying under Gavin Hamilton.
Charles Hoskinson and Adam Duncan 1st Viscount Duncan by Henri-Pierre Danloux, 1798
Charles Hoskinson is a mathematician, the founder of Cardano (ADA) and also the co-founder and ex-CEO of Ethereum. He is CEO at Input Output HK (IOHK), a company based in Hong Kong and the director of The Bitcoin Education Project, which is responsible for providing creative commons licensed content to inform, evangelize and unite the general public on the value of decentralization, cryptocurrencies, mainstream cryptography and the power of blockchains.
Adam Duncan, 1st Viscount Duncan (1731 – 1804) was a British admiral who defeated the Dutch fleet off Camperdown (north of Haarlem) on 11 October 1797. According to the British, this victory should be considered one of the most significant actions in naval history. Adam was the second son of Alexander Duncan, Baron of Lundie, Angus Provost of Dundee, and his wife Helen, daughter of John Haldane of Gleneagles, and was born in Dundee.
Charlie Lee and Alexander Gordon 4th Duke of Gordon by Angelica Kauffmann, 1774
Charlie Lee is the creator of Litecoin and was ex-Director of Engineering at Coinbase. Lee created Litecoin while working at Google, where he served as a Software Engineer. He worked on YouTube, Chrome, and Play Games. 
Alexander Gordon, 4th Duke of Gordon, (1743 – 1827) was a Scottish nobleman, described by Kaimes as the "greatest subject in Britain". Gordon was born at Gordon Castle, Fochabers, on 18 June 1743, the eldest son of Cosmo Gordon, 3rd Duke of Gordon and his wife, Lady Catherine Gordon, daughter of the 2nd Earl of Aberdeen. He was educated at Eton and also possibly at Harrow.
Chris Dunn and Douglas Hamilton, 8th Duke of Hamilton and 5th Duke of Brandon by Gavin Hamilton, 1775
​Chris Dunn is an experienced and well respected trader in the crypto community, a serial entrepreneur and founder of Skillincubator, a company that teaches valuable skills, including cryptocurrency trading, to help people thrive in today’s economy. He runs a popular YouTube channel with over 200K people subscribed. 
Douglas Hamilton, 8th Duke of Hamilton, 5th Duke of Brandon and 2nd Baron Hamilton of Hameldon, (1756 – 1799) was a Scottish peer, nobleman, and politician. Hamilton was born at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the son of the 6th Duke of Hamilton and his wife, Elizabeth Gunning. He attended Eton from 1763 to 1767 and on the death of his brother in 1769, he succeeded to the title of Duke of Hamilton. He also inherited his mother's title of Baron Hamilton of Hameldon when she died in 1790.
Dan Morehead and Charles I of England, artist unknown, 1626
Dan Morehead is founder and CEO of Pantera Capital, a San Francisco-based investment firm focusing on bitcoin and other digital currencies. Prior to founding Pantera, Morehead was Chief Financial Officer and head of macro trading at Tiger Management. Morehead previously held executive roles at Deutsche Bank in London, Bankers Trust, and Goldman Sachs and was founder and CEO of Atriax, an electronic foreign exchange platform.
Charles I (1600 – 1649) was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles was born into the House of Stuart as the second son of King James VI of Scotland, but after his father inherited the English throne in 1603, he moved to England, where he spent much of the rest of his life. Partly inspired by his visit to the Spanish court in 1623, Charles became a passionate and knowledgeable art collector, amassing one of the finest art collections ever assembled.
Elizabeth Stark and Princess Royal and Princess Mary of Orange by ​Adriaen Hanneman, 1659
Elizabeth Stark is the co-founder and CEO of Lightning Labs, a company that “scales blockchains” based in San Francisco. She is also a fellow at Coin Centre, a non-profit research centre for advocating and developing sound government policy regarding Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other decentralized technologies; an advisor at Comma.ai, a company that develops a self-driving kit for cars.
Mary, Princess Royal (1631 – 1660) was Princess of Orange and Countess of Nassau by marriage to Prince William II, and co-regent for her son during his minority as Sovereign Prince of Orange from 1651 to 1660. She was the eldest daughter of King Charles I of England, Scotland, and Ireland and his wife, Henrietta Maria of France. Her only child, William succeeded her husband as Prince of Orange-Nassau and later reigned as King of England, Ireland and Scotland. 
Erik Finman and George Keith 10th Earl Marischal by George Keith, 1716
Eric Finman currently owns 401 bitcoins, which he confirmed with CNBC Make It, or over $4.4 million at the rate of $11,182 a coin. The teenager began investing in bitcoin in May 2011, after receiving a $1,000 gift from his grandmother at age 12. He bet his parents that he wouldn't have to go to college if he was a millionaire before age 18 — and he won by investing in bitcoin.
George Keith, 10th Earl Marischal (1692– 1778) was a Scottish and Prussian army officer and diplomat. Jacobite by persuasion, he was the tenth and last Earl Marischal, having inherited the title from his father the 9th earl in 1712.
Jill Carlson and Jane Maxwell Duchess of Gordon by ​Angelica Kauffmann, 1772
​Jill is an advisor to cryptocurrency and blockchain-based ventures. Her background combines academic expertise in cryptocurrency with practical experience bringing blockchain tech to market. She ran strategy at enterprise blockchain start-up Chain, where she managed projects with Nasdaq, State Street, and the IMF. Jill began her career as a credit trader at Goldman Sachs. She holds a MSc from Oxford, where she researched financial regulation and cryptocurrency, and an AB from Harvard, where she studied the Classics.
Jane Gordon, Duchess of Gordon (1748 – 1812) was a Scottish Tory political hostess. Together with her husband Alexander, 4th Duke of Gordon and her son George, Marquess of Huntly, the future 5th Duke of Gordon she founded the Gordon Highlanders, a British Army infantry regiment that existed until 1994. Jane was the fourth child of Sir William Maxwell, 3rd Baronet of Monreith, and his wife Magdalene Blair. She was born at Myrton Castle.
John McAfee and James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose by James Graham by Anthony van Dyck, 1636
John McAfee is a British-American computer programmer and businessman. He founded the software company McAfee Associates in 1987 and ran it until 1994, when he resigned from the company. A highly influential figure in the field of computer security, he is a world-renowned expert on internet surveillance, global hacking scandals and threats, and personal privacy online. In September 2015, he announced that he would run for the office of U.S. President in the 2016 presidential election as a member of the newly-formed Cyber Party.
James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose (1612 – 1650) was a Scottish nobleman, poet and soldier, who initially joined the Covenanters in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, but subsequently supported King Charles I as the English Civil War developed. From 1644 to 1646, and again in 1650, he fought in the civil war in Scotland on behalf of the King and is generally referred to in Scotland as simply "the Great Montrose". His spectacular victories, which took his opponents by surprise, are remembered in military history for their tactical brilliance.
Joseph Lubin and John Stuart 3rd Earl of Bute by Allan Ramsay
Joseph Lubin is a Canadian entrepreneur. He has founded and co-founded several companies including the Swiss-based Ethereum, a decentralized cryptocurrency platform, and is founder of ConsenSys, a Brooklyn-based software-production studio. Lubin was also involved in the creation of the Ethereum Foundation, a Toronto-based non-profit organization. 
John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, (1713 – 1792) was a Scottish nobleman who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain (1762–1763) under George III. He was arguably the last important favourite in British politics. He was the first Prime Minister from Scotland following the Acts of Union in 1707 and the first Tory to have held the office. A close relative of the Clan Campbell (his mother was a daughter of the 1st Duke of Argyll), Bute succeeded to the Earldom of Bute (named after the Isle of Bute) upon the death of his father, James Stuart, 2nd Earl of Bute, in 1723.
Laura Shin and Lady Agnes Douglas Countess of Argyll by Adrian Vanson, 1599
Laura Shin is the Forbes senior editor managing our crypto and blockchain technology coverage, co-lead reporter of the Forbes Fintech 50 list, and host of the podcast "Unchained: Big Ideas From The Worlds Of Cryptocurrency and Blockchain." Shin graduated Phi Beta Kappa with Honors from Stanford University and has a master of arts from Columbia University’s School of Journalism. 
Agnes Douglas, Countess of Argyll (1574 – 1607) was a Scottish noblewoman and the first wife of Archibald Campbell, 7th Earl of Argyll. She was the mother of three of his children, including his heir, Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll, the de facto head of the government in Scotland throughout most of the conflict known as the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Lady Agnes was considered so beautiful that she was described as a "pearl of Lochleven".
Linda Xie and Anne Hyde, Duchess of York by Sir Peter Lely, 1661
Linda Xie is a co-founder and managing director of Scalar Capital. Linda is an advisor to 0x, a protocol for decentralized exchange of Ethereum tokens. Previously she was a product manager at Coinbase which she joined in June 2014. Prior to Coinbase, she was a portfolio risk analyst at AIG. Linda holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of California, San Diego.
Anne Hyde (1637 – 1671) was Duchess of York and Albany as the first wife of the future King James II of England. Anne was the daughter of a commoner Edward Hyde and met her future husband when they were both living in exile in the Netherlands. Originally an Anglican, Anne converted to Catholicism soon after her marriage to James. Partly due to Anne's influence, James later also converted to Catholicism, which would ultimately lead to the Glorious Revolution.
Meltem Demirors and Henrietta of England, Duchess of Orleans by Jean Nocret, 1660
Meltem is the Director of Development​ at Digital Currency Group​ (DCG), a firm focused on building and supporting bitcoin and blockchain companies by leveraging its insights, network, and access to capital. Currently, she is a Member of Global Future Council on Blockchain of World Economic Forum​. Meltem is a Guest lecturer​ at the MIT Media Lab​, and is a Lecturer​ for Oxford​'s newest course on blockchain technology.
Henrietta of England (1644 – 1670) was the youngest daughter of King Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland and his wife, Henrietta Maria of France. Fleeing England with her governess at the age of three, she moved to the court of her first cousin Louis XIV of France, where she was known as Minette. Henrietta was instrumental in diplomatic negotiations between her native England and adopted France. Appealing to Louis XIV, she managed to arrange to travel to England, where she arrived in Dover on 26 May 1670, remaining there until 1 June, the day the treaty was signed.
Michael Novogratz and Sir William Forbes of Pitsligo by Sir Joshua Reynolds, 1806
Michael Edward "Mike" Novogratz is an ex-hedge fund manager, formerly of the investment firm Fortress Investment Group. Prior to joining Fortress, he was a partner at Goldman Sachs where he spent lots of time working abroad including leadership roles in Asia and Latin America. Novogratz is a 1987 graduate of Princeton University. Novogratz is the CEO of Galaxy Investment Partners, a cryptocurrency investment firm.
Sir William Forbes, 6th Baronet of Monymusk and Pitsligo FRSE (1739 – 1806) was a Scottish banker. He was known also as an improving landlord, philanthropist, writer and an authority on finance. He was born in Edinburgh and served an apprenticeship with the banking firm Coutts. He derived considerable wealth from his career as an influential banker and made donations to charitable institutions and individuals in Edinburgh. He is shown wearing the order of the baronetcy of Nova Scotia, a title inherited from his father and still worn by the Forbes descendants today.
Naval Ravikant and Neil Gow by Henry Raeburn, 1787
Naval Ravikant is the CEO and a co-founder of AngelList. He previously co-founded Epinions (which went public as part of Shopping.com) and Vast.com. He is an active Angel investor, and has invested in dozens of companies, including Twitter, Uber, Yammer, Stack Overflow and Wanelo.
Niel Gow, Scotland's most famous fiddler and composer of strathspeys and reels, lived in the cottage where he had been born, just outside Dunkeld in Perthshire, but travelled all over the country playing at balls and festivities.  He started playing the fiddle when very young and at age 13 received his first formal lessons. In spite of being something of a musical prodigy, he originally trained as a weaver, but eventually gave up that trade to become a full-time musician.
Roger Ver and Robert Burns by Alexander Nasmyth, 1787
Roger Ver is an early investor in bitcoin-related startups. He has been a prominent supporter of bitcoin adoption and saw bitcoin as a means to promote economic freedom. He now promotes Bitcoin Cash, a hard fork of the cryptocurrency created with the intent to fix issues such as high fees and long transaction confirmation times.
Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796), also known as Rabbie Burns was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is regarded as a pioneer of the Romantic movement, and after his death he became a great source of inspiration to the founders of both liberalism and socialism, and a cultural icon in Scotland and among the Scottish diaspora around the world. Celebration of his life and work became almost a national charismatic cult during the 19th and 20th centuries, and his influence has long been strong on Scottish literature.
Ryan Selkis and Charles Stuart Edwards Prince of Wales by Jean-Etienne Liotard, 1737 
Ryan Selkis is an entrepreneur, blogger and former venture capitalist helping to build the bitcoin / digital currency ecosystem. He has founded two separate Bitcoin ventures and writes a widely-followed daily blog under the moniker the "Two-Bit Idiot," where he discusses news, analysis and ideas for the Bitcoin industry. He is the founder of Messari, and formerly an entrepreneur-in-residence at ConsenSys, and founding team member at the industry's most active investor (Digital Currency Group) and largest media brand CoinDesk. 
Charles Edward Stuart (1720 – 1788) was the elder son of James Francis Edward Stuart, grandson of James II and VII and after 1766 the Stuart claimant to the throne of Great Britain. During his lifetime, he was also known as "The Young Pretender" or "The Young Chevalier" and in popular memory as "Bonnie Prince Charlie". He is best remembered for his role in the 1745 rising. 
Tim Draper and Robert Cunningham Graham of Gartmore by Sir Henry Raeburn, 1794
Timothy Cook Draper is an American venture capital investor and the founder of the firm that would become Draper Fisher Jurvetson. He also founded Draper Associates and Draper University. In July 2014, Draper received wide coverage for his purchase at a US Marshals Service auction of seized bitcoins from the Silk Road marketplace website. Draper is the third in a familial line of venture capitalists. He is the son of Phyllis (Culbertson) and William Henry Draper III and the younger brother of actress Polly Draper. 
Robert Graham (1735 – 1797) was a Scottish politician and poet. He is now remembered for a poem If doughty deeds my lady please, which was later set to music by his great-great-grandson, Rev. Malise Cunninghame Graham and also by Sir Arthur Sullivan. Robert, who was the second son of Nicol Graham of Gartmore by his wife, Lady Margaret Cunningham, was born at Gartmore, Perthshire, and educated, along with his elder brother William, at the University of Glasgow. He spent much of his early life in Jamaica, where he was a planter and merchant, and became Receiver-General for Taxes in 1753. Robert Burns describes Graham as: "...the noblest instance of great talents, great fortune and great worth that ever I saw in conjunction."
Tyler Winklevoss and David Hume by Allan Ramsay, 1766
Tyler Winklevoss an American rower, entrepreneur, and founder of Winklevoss Capital Management and Co-Founder & President of Gemini a next generation digital asset exchange. Tyler and his twin brother Cameron became the first Bitcoin billionaires in 2017.
David Hume (1711 – 1776) was a Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist, who is best known today for his highly influential system of philosophical empiricism, scepticism, and naturalism. Hume's empiricist approach to philosophy places him with John Locke, Francis Bacon and Thomas Hobbes as a British Empiricist. Beginning with his A Treatise of Human Nature (1739), Hume strove to create a total naturalistic science of man that examined the psychological basis of human nature.
Vinny Lingham and James VII and II, when Duke of York by Sir Peter Lely, 1661
Vinny Lingham is a South African Internet entrepreneur who is the co-founder & CEO of Civic - an identity protection and management startup. He was also previously the founder and CEO of Gyft & Yola, Inc. He is also the co-founder of SiliconCape, an NGO based in South Africa that aims to turn Cape Town into a technology hub. Lingham was also previously the founder and CEO of the global search marketing firm incuBeta and its subsidiary Clicks2Customers.
James II and VII (1633 – 1701) was King of England and Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII until he was deposed in the Glorious Revolution of 1688. He was the last Roman Catholic monarch of England, Scotland and Ireland. The second surviving son of Charles I, he ascended the throne upon the death of his brother, Charles II. James is best known for his struggles with the English Parliament and his attempts to create religious liberty for English Roman Catholics and Protestant nonconformists, against the wishes of the Anglican establishment.
Vitalik Buterin and Lord Lewis Gordon by John Alexander, 1736
Vitalik Buterin is a Russian-Canadian programmer and writer primarily known as a co-founder of Ethereum and as a co-founder of Bitcoin Magazine. Buterin was born in Kolomna, Russia where he lived until the age of six when his parents emigrated to Canada. Buterin donated 2.4 million dollars in Ether to the SENS Research Foundation in 2018, for the research on rejuvenation biotechnologies and human life extension. Buterin has also given $1 million worth of Ether in conjunction with the Ethereum-based OmiseGO open payment platform to the GiveDirectly organization aimed at helping the poorest of poor refugees in Africa.
Gordon was the third son of Alexander Gordon, 2nd Duke of Gordon, and Lady Henrietta Mordaunt, daughter of Charles Mordaunt, 3rd Earl of Peterborough. He was for some time a lieutenant in the navy, but on the outbreak of the Rebellion of 1745 he joined the cause of the Stuarts. On 16 October 1745 he swore allegiance to Prince Charles Edward at Holyrood.Lewis then formed one of the prince's council instituted at Edinburgh. He raised a regiment of two battalions in Banffshire and Aberdeenshire, and with this levy defeated loyalist forces under the Laird of Macleod, at the Battle of Inverurie, 23 December 1745. He then marched to Perth and joined the main army of the insurgents. After the Battle of Culloden he escaped abroad, and died in France on 15 June 1754. 
Ethereum vs Bitcoin and The Landing of British Troops at Abourikir by Philip James de Loutherbourg, 1802
What is Bitcoin? and The Baptism of Prince Charles Edward Stuart by Antonio David, 1725

More photos from inside the Scottish National Portrait Gallery