Henry Larcom Abbot
Medium
Painting
Classification
Painting
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Henry Merriam Abbot, in loving memory of his great-grandfather, Henry Larcom Abbot
Accession Number
NPG.92.127
Tags
About this artwork
Henry Merriam Abbot [d. 1988], great-grandson of sitter; his widow Mrs. Catherine C. Abbot [Mrs. Henry M. Abbot], Bethesda, MD; gift 1992 NPG
Art Historical Context
This striking 1857 portrait by Nahum Ball Onthank Henry Larcom Abbot, prominent military engineer and surveyor who later rose to the rank of general in the Union Army during the Civil War. Painted just four years before the conflict erupted, the work depicts Abbot in formal attire, complete with an epaulet signifying his military stature and a distinctive beard that reflects mid-19th-century masculine ideals. Onthank, a New England-born artist active from 1823 to 1888, specialized in realistic portraits that honored civic and military leaders, preserving their legacies through meticulous detai...