Franklin Pierce

Art Historical Context

This lithographic print, titled *Franklin Pierce* and produced around 1852 by the Benjamin W. Thayer Lithography Co. of Boston (active 1840–3), captures the 14th President of the United States in a formal portrait. Pierce, a New Hampshire native, lawyer, and Mexican-American War brigadier general, gazes directly at the viewer from a sturdy chair, dressed in a neat tie and suit that reflect the dignified style of mid-19th-century political imagery. Housed in the Smithsonian American Art Museum's National Portrait Gallery collection, it exemplifies the era's portraiture conventions. Lithography...