In the British colonies of North America there were no academies, few collectors and almost no old paintings to study. Portraits were what people wanted, and a few gifted painters, mostly self-taught, learned from prints and the occasional imported picture. They drew on the British portrait tradition and, after independence, on Neoclassicism.
Looking closely: Paul Revere
Describe. A man in shirt sleeves and an open waistcoat sits at a polished wooden table, chin in hand, holding a silver teapot. Engraving tools lie on the table. Analyze. Strong light from the left falls on his face, white shirt and the teapot against a dark background. The table's reflections and the shine of the silver show off Copley's skill with surfaces. Interpret. Paul Revere (1734 to 1818) was a Boston silversmith and engraver. Copley painted him as a craftsman at work, in working clothes, proud of a skilled trade, which was unusual: wealthy sitters usually wanted silk and columns. Revere later became famous for his midnight ride of 1775, but this portrait, painted seven years earlier, is about his craft.
Key idea
Common mistake
John Singleton Copley (1738 to 1815) taught himself in Boston from prints and became the best portraitist in the colonies. In 1774 he left for London and never returned. Gilbert Stuart (1755 to 1828) trained in London and came home to paint the leaders of the new nation. His unfinished Athenaeum Portrait of George Washington (1796), only the head painted, became the model for dozens of copies he sold and, later, for the face on the one-dollar bill.
Monticello
Thomas Jefferson designed his own house on a hilltop in Virginia and rebuilt it over forty years, from 1769 to 1809. He based it on the books of the Italian architect Andrea Palladio and on Roman temples: a portico of columns with a triangular pediment, and a shallow dome, which he added after seeing new buildings in Paris, such as the Hôtel de Salm, while he was American minister to France (1784 to 1789). Monticello was the center of a plantation worked by enslaved people, and today the site presents their lives and work alongside the house.
Why it works
Worked example: Reading a portrait
- Revere was a silversmith and engraver.
- The teapot and tools are the products and instruments of his trade.
- Copley shows him as a skilled craftsman, proud of his work.
Answer: He is presented as a working silversmith.