Mrs. Rufus Prime (Augusta Temple Palmer, 1807–1840)
Medium
Card
Dimensions
Oval, 5 3/8 x 4 in. (138 x 102 mm)
Classification
Miniatures
Department
European Paintings
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Cornelia Prime, 1908
Accession Number
08.60
Tags
Art Historical Context
This delicate oval miniature portrait, titled *Mrs. Rufus Prime (usta Temple Palmer, 1807–1840)*, captures the poised elegance of its young American subject at age 21. Painted in 1828 by the renowned French miniaturist Jean Isabey (1767–1855), it the intimate portraiture flourished in early 19th-century Europe Isabey, a favorite of Napoleon and the Bourbon court, mastered the art of small-scale works that conveyed lifelike detail and emotional depth, often commissioned by elite families for personal keepsakes. Executed on card—a lightweight, portable medium typical of miniatures—this 5 3/8 x ...
About the Artist
Jean-Baptiste Isabey · 1767–1855
Jean-Baptiste Isabey (1767–1855) was a French painter and miniaturist whose extraordinary longevity and adaptability allowed him to serve as the preeminent portraitist of successive French regimes — from the court of Louis XVI through the Revolution, the Napoleonic Empire, the Restoration, and into the July Monarchy — making his career an almost unparalleled chronicle of French political and socia...