Portrait of Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)
Date1805
Artist
Gilbert Stuart (1755-1828)
(1755-1825)
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsUnframed: 29 5/16" x 24 1/2" (74.5 cm. x 62.2 cm.) and Framed: 36 9/16" x 31 11/16" x 2 3/4" deep
Credit LineAcquisition funded by John D. Rockefeller, Jr.
Object number1945-22
DescriptionA half-length depiction of a gray-haired man turned three-quarters to the left, his eyes focused on the viewer. He wears a white stock and ruffled shirt and a black coat, his hair is pulled back and bound by a black ribbon at the nape of his neck.The 4-inch gilded frame was fabricated in 1945 by Knoedler's in accord with architect William G. Perry's drawing of a "typical 'Gilbert Stuart' frame." Actually, Perry's drawing was used as the basis for Knoedler's 1945 fabrication of frames for three CWF-owned portraits: Jefferson (1945-22), Madison (1945-23), and Monroe (1946-80). See the file copy of Perry's letter to Kenneth Chorley, which attaches Perry's drawing and which discusses the ornamental details by which the three frames were to be varied.
Label TextGilbert Stuart was known for the lifelike quality of his portraits, especially their convincing illusion of human flesh. The surprising variety, economical application, and deft placement of the pigments in the face of this portrait of third president Thomas Jefferson almost persuade us that blood courses beneath the skin.
Jefferson posed for Stuart in 1800 and 1805, but whatever image resulted from the first of these sittings does not survive (and perhaps was never completed). It is uncertain whether Colonial Williamsburg's painting is the life portrait that resulted from the second sitting or, more likely, derived from the painting done then. Regardless, it is an early version, likely completed before Stuart left Washington in July of 1805.
Confusion over the circumstances of the portrait's creation is compounded by Stuart's duplicity, for he often misled (and sometimes lied to) clients regarding the status of their commissions. Although personally engaging and unquestionably talented, he was an inept business manager. Money slipped through his hands like water, motivating easy promises he had no intention of keeping. For such reasons, Jefferson never succeeded in obtaining the life portrait produced in either 1800 or 1805, which he felt he was due; Stuart put him off until 1821 --- and then only delivered a copy.
ProvenanceFrom the artist to James Madison (1751-1836); from James Madison to his wife, Dolley Payne Madison (1768-1849); purchased from Dolley Madison's estate in 1851 by Edward Coles, Sr.; from Edward Coles, Sr. to his son, Edward Coles, Jr.; from Edward Coles, Jr., to his daughter, Mary R. Coles; from Mary R. Coles to her nephews, George, Edward, James, and Oliver Robbins; from the four Messrs. Robbins to the Metropolitan Museum of Art via M. Knoedler & Co.; in 1945, acquired from the Metropolitan Museum of Art by John D. Rockefeller, Jr., for Colonial Williamsburg. [Provenance corrected by Mr. Brooks Robbins, grandson of Mrs. George S. Robbins, via telephone call to Margaret S. Gill, Registrar of CWF, April 17, 2001].
Exhibition(s)
Probably 1813-1819
1927-1928
Possibly 1700-1750
