Henry Benbridge

Henry Benbridge was one of South Carolina's most prominent artists during the colonial period. During the 1760s, he studied in Italy and England and returned home in 1770. An outspoken patriot, Benbridge was exiled to Saint Augustine, Florida, by the British when they captured Charleston during the Revolutionary War. He returned from exile in 1784 to resume his career as a miniaturist and portrait painter in South Carolina, and after 1800 abandoned painting to pursue agriculture. His wife, Letitia Sage Benbridge, was also a miniaturist.