Son of Thomas Mellon
1776 to 1800
Medium
pen and brown ink and red crayon on brown wove paper
Dimensions
sheet: 27.7 × 18.3 cm (10 7/8 × 7 3/16 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Paul Mellon Collection
Accession Number
1964.24.5
Art Historical Context
Behold *Son of Thomas Mellon*, a delicate drawing attributed to an imitator of the renowned American portraitist Thomas Sully Created between 1776 and 1800, this work captures the refined likeness of its young subject using pen and brown ink combined with red crayon on brownove paper. Measuring just 27.7 × 18.3 cm, it exemplifies the intimate scale of preparatory sketches from the late 18th century, a period when such drawings served as studies for larger oil portraits, blending neoclassical precision with emerging romantic sensitivity. Thomas Sully (1783–1871), whose style this imitates, was...