John Cabell Breckinridge
Medium
Classification
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Accession Number
NPG.89.7
Tags
Art Historical Context
This lithographic print by Nathaniel Currier, created around 1856-60, John C. Breckinridge at the height of his political prominence. As the youngest U.S. Vice President (serving under James Buchanan from 18571861) and a Kentucky lawyer and railroad executive, Breckinridge depicted in a formal interior setting with classical elements like columns, curtains, and a chair—marks of 19th-century portraiture evoking stability and authority. Currier a pioneering figure in American lithography through his firm Currier & Ives, produced affordable, mass-distributed prints that brought current events an...