Medium
Classification
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon
Accession Number
S/NPG.74.39.2.23
Tags
Art Historical Context
In 1796, French-born artist Charles Balthazar Févret de Saintémin captured the profile of Solomon Moses, a Philadelphia merchant, in this striking print from the Smithsonian American Art Museum Saint-Mémin, who fled the French Revolution and settled in America around 1793, revolutionizedure with his innovative "physionotrace" technique—a pantograph device that traced precise silhouettes from life, which were then engraved and hand-colored for distribution. This method made high-quality portraits affordable to the emerging American middle class, blending European precision with democratic acces...