Marquis de Lafayette (Portrait)
From Thomas Jefferson Encyclopedia
Original by Joseph Boze (1745-1826), Copied by Bradley Stevens
Oil on canvas
1790
92.1 x 72.4 (36 ¼ x 28 ½ inches)
Massachusetts Historical Society
Description: Half-length portrait of Lafayette[1]. Sitter’s head turned left with right arm fully extended, apparently holding a walking stick (out of view). Has a white powdered wig tied in a queue. Left arm is akimbo with gloved hand in a fist. Lafayette is depicted in military uniform of the Parisian National Guard wearing the medals of the Society of the Cincinnati, the Vainqueurs de la Bastille, and the Cross of Saint Louis. The uniform consists of a blue with white waistcoat, brass buttons, and gold epaulets. He also wears a white vest and neck cloth. A dress sword with gold grip and hilt hangs from his white sword belt. The background consists of landscape.
Thomas Jefferson desired a portrait of Marquis de Lafayette to add to his wall of “American worthies,” for he felt it would be incomplete without it. He eventually received such a portrait; however, correspondence between Jefferson and his secretary William Short suggests that the portrait may not have been painted from life. Short wrote Jefferson:
It has been impossible as yet to get the Marquis de Lafayette to sit for his picture. He always says he will do it, but never keeps his word and indeed he has not time- not even one moment to spare. Still if it is possible it shall be done.[2]
At Monticello Jefferson placed this portrait of his dear friend in the top tier of the Parlor between Sir Walter Raleigh and James Madison. Lafayette undoubtedly saw it there in 1824 when he visited Monticello during his farewell tour of the United States.
Provenance: Thomas Jefferson; by purchase to Mrs. John W. Davis at the Harding Gallery sale in 1833; by gift to the Massachusetts Historical Society in 1835.
