Thomas Hopkinson
Robert Feke
1746
Medium
Painting
Classification
Painting
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Smithsonian American Art Museum, George Buchanan Coale Collection
Accession Number
1926.6.2
Tags
aristocratPortrait male
About this artwork
Thomas Hopkinson wears a full-bottomed wig and a sword, and he stands before a balustrade and a grove of pruned cypresses. But these European props do not tell the whole story. Hopkinson was also an ambitious citizen of a new society interested in new discoveries. He studied law in England but carved out a career for himself in Philadelphia, where he attained the rank of judge and, when he was not in court, helped Benjamin Franklin in his experiments with electricity.Exhibition Label, Smithsonia...