Description: miniature
Label Text: Using fine, controlled strokes, self-taught artist Sarah Goodridge emphasized the serious, confident appearance of the prominent antebellum politician Daniel Webster (1782–1852). Webster’s black suit echoes the dark background and lends the portrait a formal atmosphere, fitting for such a renowned public figure. Goodridge’s painting shows her sitter soon after his election to the United States Senate, in which he represented Massachusetts. This position followed two stints in the U.S. House of Representatives (representing New Hampshire from 1813 to 1817 and Massachusetts from 1823 to 1827). This portrait is one of twelve that Goodridge completed of Webster in an extended artistic engagement that sheds light on their long-standing romantic affair.
Written by Timothy Clark, Class of 2012 American Art Intern, Fall 2011
Link to share this object record: https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=AC+1945.102 |