Mrs. Joseph Donaldson (Frances Johnston)
Medium
Watercolor on ivory
Dimensions
1 1/2 x 1 1/4 in. (3.8 x 3.1 cm)
Classification
Painting, miniature
Culture
American
Department
The American Wing
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Gloria Manney, 2006
Accession Number
2006.235.125
Tags
Art Historical Context
In 1776, the very year of America's Declaration of Independence, Charlesson Peale captured the poised likeness of Mrs. Joseph Donaldson, née Frances Johnston, in this exquisite watercolor miniature on ivory. Peale, a leading figure among early American artists and a signer of the Declaration, was renowned for his realistic portraits that blended Enlightenment ideals with emerging national identity. Measuring just 1 1/2 x 1 1/4 inches, this tiny exemplifies the intimate scale of 18th-century miniatures, often worn as lockets or pins as cherished personal mementos. The watercolor-on-ivory techn...
About the Artist
Charles Willson Peale · 1741–1827
Charles Willson Peale (1741–1827) was an American painter, museum founder, naturalist, and inventor who became the most important American portraitist of the Revolutionary era and a central figure in the cultural life of the young republic. Born in Queen Anne's County, Maryland, he initially trained as a saddler before turning to painting, studying briefly with John Singleton Copley in Boston and ...