Difference between revisions of "Depictions of Wythe"

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choices="SilvetteWythe1979.jpg|GeorgeWythePortrait.jpg|BacheSilhouette.jpg|BenbridgeWythe.jpg|Trumbull1791Wythe.jpg|GreatAmericanLawyers1907Wythe.jpg|Longacre1823Wythe.jpg|Rosenthal1888Wythe.jpg|Erekson1876Wythe.jpg|Crossman1927Wythe.jpg|Leney1807Wythe.jpg" />
 
choices="SilvetteWythe1979.jpg|GeorgeWythePortrait.jpg|BacheSilhouette.jpg|BenbridgeWythe.jpg|Trumbull1791Wythe.jpg|GreatAmericanLawyers1907Wythe.jpg|Longacre1823Wythe.jpg|Rosenthal1888Wythe.jpg|Erekson1876Wythe.jpg|Crossman1927Wythe.jpg|Leney1807Wythe.jpg" />
As a signer of the [[Declaration of Independence]], George Wythe's portrait was much sought after by artists.
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In an 1806 letter to the painter, [[Jefferson-Peale Correspondence|Charles Willson Peale]] (1741 &ndash; 1827), [[Thomas Jefferson]] laments that he only has a "shade in profile" of his friend and mentor, [[George Wythe]], "whose portrait was never taken."<ref>[[http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mtj.mtjbib016602 Jefferson to Charles Willson Peale, 22 November 1806]], ''The Thomas Jefferson Papers,'' Series 1, General Correspondence, 1651-1827, Library of Congress.</ref> Jefferson sent Peale a copy of the profile, from which a portrait was made by "filling the out line of your late friend Judge Wythe. Whether you may find it equally striking as to likeness I cannot say, for my remembrance has not furnished me with any Idea's of the form of his features, therefore it is all guess work."<ref>[[http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mtj.mtjbib016670  Charles Willson Peale to Jefferson, 13 December 1806]], ''The Thomas Jefferson Papers,'' Series 1, General Correspondence, 1651-1827, Library of Congress.</ref> The current location of Peale's portrait of Wythe is unknown, and it was probably dispersed with Jefferson's estate after his death.
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Despite what Jefferson tells us, there is a portrait identified as Wythe&mdash;in minature&mdash;in the collection of the [[http://www.rwnaf.org/collections/item?id=1617 R.W. Norton Art Gallery,] in Shreveport, Louisiana, attributed to [[wikipedia:Henry Benbridge|Henry Benbridge]] (1743 &ndash; 1812). It is a watercolor on ivory, 1&frac12; inches tall by 1&frac14; wide, and depicts Wythe as a young man. A 1971 text on Benbridge published by the Smithsonian Institution's [http://www.npg.si.edu/ National Portrait Gallery,] states, however: "Since the history of this portrait does not go back beyond 1941, it is suspect. The technique is not characteristically Benbridge."<ref>Robert G. Stewart, ''Henry Benbridge (1743-1812): American Portrait Painter,'' (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1971), 81.</ref> This does not necessarily mean it is not an authentic portrait of Wythe.
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Wythe's profile in shadow (or "shade," as Jefferson describes it) was taken twice: once, in 1804, by William Bache (1771 &ndash; 1845); and another at an earlier time in Wythe's life. William DuVal describes the two profiles in a letter to Thomas Jefferson in December, 1806, after Wythe's death: "The profile you have, will shew his appearance at that period of his Life, & the one I have, will exhibit a strong likeness a few years before his untimely Death"
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==Images of George Wythe==
 
==Images of George Wythe==
  
 
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File:BenbridgeWythe.jpg|Miniature by Henry Benbridge (c. 1770). Original at the [http://www.rwnaf.org/collections/item?id=1617 R.W. Norton Art Gallery,] Shreveport, Louisiana.
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File:BenbridgeWythe.jpg|Miniature, attributed to Henry Benbridge (c. 1770). Original at the [http://www.rwnaf.org/collections/item?id=1617 R.W. Norton Art Gallery,] Shreveport, Louisiana.
 
File:Trumbull1791Wythe.jpg|Pencil sketch from life, by John Trumbull, in Williamsburg (1791). Image courtesy of the [http://www.history.org/ Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.]
 
File:Trumbull1791Wythe.jpg|Pencil sketch from life, by John Trumbull, in Williamsburg (1791). Image courtesy of the [http://www.history.org/ Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.]
 
File:BacheSilhouette.jpg|William Bache silhouette (1804). From [https://catalog.swem.wm.edu/law/Record/593884 ''Shades of Our Ancestors,''] by Alice Van Leer Carrick (1928).  
 
File:BacheSilhouette.jpg|William Bache silhouette (1804). From [https://catalog.swem.wm.edu/law/Record/593884 ''Shades of Our Ancestors,''] by Alice Van Leer Carrick (1928).  

Revision as of 14:19, 4 April 2014

Portrait of George Wythe, by William H. Crossman (1927), after John Trumbull. Original with the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.

In an 1806 letter to the painter, Charles Willson Peale (1741 – 1827), Thomas Jefferson laments that he only has a "shade in profile" of his friend and mentor, George Wythe, "whose portrait was never taken."[1] Jefferson sent Peale a copy of the profile, from which a portrait was made by "filling the out line of your late friend Judge Wythe. Whether you may find it equally striking as to likeness I cannot say, for my remembrance has not furnished me with any Idea's of the form of his features, therefore it is all guess work."[2] The current location of Peale's portrait of Wythe is unknown, and it was probably dispersed with Jefferson's estate after his death.

Despite what Jefferson tells us, there is a portrait identified as Wythe—in minature—in the collection of the [R.W. Norton Art Gallery, in Shreveport, Louisiana, attributed to Henry Benbridge (1743 – 1812). It is a watercolor on ivory, 1½ inches tall by 1¼ wide, and depicts Wythe as a young man. A 1971 text on Benbridge published by the Smithsonian Institution's National Portrait Gallery, states, however: "Since the history of this portrait does not go back beyond 1941, it is suspect. The technique is not characteristically Benbridge."[3] This does not necessarily mean it is not an authentic portrait of Wythe.

Wythe's profile in shadow (or "shade," as Jefferson describes it) was taken twice: once, in 1804, by William Bache (1771 – 1845); and another at an earlier time in Wythe's life. William DuVal describes the two profiles in a letter to Thomas Jefferson in December, 1806, after Wythe's death: "The profile you have, will shew his appearance at that period of his Life, & the one I have, will exhibit a strong likeness a few years before his untimely Death"


Images of George Wythe

See also

  • [Jefferson to Charles Willson Peale, 22 November 1806], The Thomas Jefferson Papers, Series 1, General Correspondence, 1651-1827, Library of Congress.
  • [Charles Willson Peale to Jefferson, 13 December 1806], The Thomas Jefferson Papers, Series 1, General Correspondence, 1651-1827, Library of Congress.
  • Robert G. Stewart, Henry Benbridge (1743-1812): American Portrait Painter, (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1971), 81.