Portrait of Patrick Henry (1736-1799)

Date1815

Artist Thomas Sully (1783-1872)

After work by Lawrence Sully (1769-1804)

OriginAmerica, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

MediumOil on canvas

DimensionsUnframed: 30 1/8" x 25 1/16" and Framed: 37 1/4" x 32 1/4" x 2 1/2" deep

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1958-3,A

DescriptionA half-length portrait of a man turned slightly to the viewer's right, his hands not shown. He wears an auburn wig, and his round-lens spectacles are pushed up on top of his head. He wears a white neckcloth, black coat and waistcoat, and red great coat.
Label TextConsidering Patrick Henry's immense stature as a Revolutionary statesman and orator and his notability as Virginia's first elected governor, surprisingly few life portraits were made of him. Least well-known is a series of quick sketches executed in 1797 by Benjamin Latrobe. The only other images credibly taken from life are two miniatures, one done by an unidentified artist, the other executed in 1795 by Lawrence Sully (1769-1804). The last was used by Lawrence's brother, Thomas, as a guide in creating the full-scale oil now owned by Colonial Williamsburg.
Thomas Sully relied heavily on his brother's miniature without slavishly copying it. In order to achieve the desired overall size as well as appropriate proportions and formatting, he added the major portion of Henry's torso and greatcoat. More insightfully, he altered the direction and focus of Henry's gaze and added spectacles to the top of his head. Far less obvious are "slight alterations to the wig," which Henry's grandson claimed were suggested by Chief Justice John Marshall. Thomas's typical, loose, slashing brushwork also distinguishes his large oil from his brother's more minutely detailed and painstakingly executed miniature. The result is a portrait that Henry's wife and children called "the best likeness they ever saw" of Henry. (In an ironic twist of fate, one of Henry's sons later denounced Lawrence's life miniature as "indifferent").
Originally, Colonial Williamsburg's painting was commissioned from Thomas Sully by William Wirt (1772-1834), Henry's admirer and biographer whose Sketches of the Life and Character of Patrick Henry initially appeared in 1817 bearing, as its frontispiece, an engraving after this likeness. In Sully's manuscript list of completed paintings, he noted that he began work on this, his first Henry portrait, on November 11, 1815, finishing it the following November 20, and charging Wirt $100 for the effort.

InscribedIn the upper lefthand corner, partially obscured by the present framing, is: "T S 1815". In 1957, in the course of treatment, conservator Sheldon Keck assessed this inscription as "very old and probably of the same date as the painting." [The present cataloguer has not viewed this inscription; it should be re-examined when the painting is removed from its frame]. Of all the inscriptions and markings on this painting that are thought to be original, this is the only one that remains visible. See below.

In 1958, Keck reported and photographed lettering that appeared on the reverse of the original canvas, running parallel to one of the sides [whether left or right is unclear] and close to the tacking edge, BENEATH the relevant stretcher; he tentatively transcribed this lettering as, "L. F. W - W TS". The last two letters were first transcribed by him as a simple "S"----and were only later deciphered or transcribed by him as being entwined in the form of a monogram. He added that the lettering was unquestionably placed there before the canvas was stretched and that the canvas had "never been off this stretcher" prior to his own removal of it.

Keck also noted chalk marks on the INNER face of the stretchers at their corners, marks which, he claimed, "bear similarity to Sully's hand." Keck's photo (see below) shows these chalk marks as light, possibly white, formed in what appear to be four, individual, capital, script letters; the two letters in one corner (one letter appearing on each of two adjacent stretchers joined to form a single corner) might both conceivably be a "T". In a contiguous (i.e., not diagonally opposite) corner, the other two letters are less clear but might conceivably be an "A" and an "M".

N. B. A 3 1/2 x 4-inch Keck file photo is the only known visual documentation of these reverse inscriptions and markings that are now either hidden or lost. Per his treatment report, Keck lined the original canvas (thus obscuring the markings on the primary support), and he replaced the original stretchers (which are not recorded as having been returned to CWF).

Keck provided CWF an X-ray of the painting, but this has not been located as of 3/21/2004.

ProvenanceThe portrait was painted for Henry's early biographer, William Wirt (1772-1834), for use (in the form of engravings after it done by William Leney) in Wirt's SKETCHES OF THE LIFE AND CHARACTER OF PATRICK HENRY, first published in 1817.
From Wirt to Patrick Henry's youngest son, John Henry (1796-1865); to the last's son, William Wirt Henry (1831-1900); to the last's daughter, Mrs. Matthew Bland Harrison (nee Lucy Gray Henry). The last-named sold the painting at auction in 1910 (see Henkels in the "Bibliography"), whence it was purchased by Charles H. Hamilton of Philadelphia. CWF purchased the painting from the estate of Mrs. Charles H. (Olivia P.) Hamilton, dealing directly with her grandson (and estate executor) Walter M. Schwartz, Jr., of Philadelphia.
Notes: On January 9, 1911, Lucy Henry Harrison issued a notarized statement authenticating much of the above history, describing the portrait as "painted by Thomas Sully (from a miniature taken from life) to the order of Hon. William Wirt, who presented it to John Henry, from whose estate I inherited it in direct descent." [A copy of the statement is in the object file].