Portrait of a Gentleman

Media - 1956.11.27 - SAAM-1956.11.27_1 - 1475
Copied Cornelius Johnson, Portrait of a Gentleman, ca. 1635-1640, oil on canvas, sight 29 1224 12 in. (74.962.2 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Mabel Johnson Langhorne, 1956.11.27
Free to use

Artwork Details

Title
Portrait of a Gentleman
Date
ca. 1635-1640
Dimensions
sight 29 1224 12 in. (74.962.2 cm.)
Credit Line
Bequest of Mabel Johnson Langhorne
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Keywords
  • Portrait male — unidentified
  • Occupation — other — aristocrat
Object Number
1956.11.27

Artwork Description

When this portrait entered the Smithsonian it was thought to be a posthumous image of Henry, Prince of Wales, who died in 1612. Curators questioned this identification after comparing it to life portraits of the prince, whose features differ noticeably from those of this man. But the sitter’s long hair, lace collar, and elaborate sleeves mark him as a cavalier, a supporter of the king in the civil war that eventually drove Cornelius Johnson to Holland. When the portrait was painted, Johnson was still in England, where he held the distinction of “his Majesty’s servant in the quality of Picture drawer.” (Shaw, The Seventeenth-century Gaze, 1987) This painting came to the Smithsonian through Ralph Cross Johnson, who worked as an attorney in Maine and in Washington. Johnson built an impressive collection of European and American art, which he bequeathed to the National Collection.