John Murray
Medium
mezzotint and engraving in black on wove paper mounted to brown wove paper
Dimensions
image (irregular): 5.56 × 5.56 cm (2 3/16 × 2 3/16 in.) sheet (trimmed to plate): 6.67 × 6.19 cm (2 5/8 × 2 7/16 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Corcoran Collection (Gift of William Wilson Corcoran)
Accession Number
2015.19.1584.24.1
Art Historical Context
This intimate 1802 portrait by Charles Balthazar Julien Févret Saint-Mémin captures John Murray through the refined technique of mezzotint and engraving. Working in the United States after the Revolution, Saint-Mémin specialized in small-scale profile likenesses that appealed to a growing American audience eager for accessible yet elegant images of notable citizens. The diminutive scale—barely two inches square—reflects the artist’s signature format, often produced from physionotrace drawings and printed on fine wove paper for private collectors or albums. The medium itself is significant: me...
About the Artist
Charles B. J. Févret de Saint-Mémin
**Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin** Born on March 12, 1770, in Dijon, France, to marquis Bénigne-Charles Févret de Saint-Mémin, a former conseiller au Parlement de Bourgogne, and Victoire-Marie de Motmans, a creole from Port-au-Prince, Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin received a military education at the École Militaire in Paris, graduating in 1785. He served as a cad...