Quill & Palette: The Art of Literature: Presidential Portraiture

     Before the development and widespread usage of the camera, portraiture was the only way to capture a person's image. For centuries portraits were only available to the very wealthy, such as royal families or aristocrats; and since 1789, the list has included U.S. Presidents.
      For decades many people could only see their president though portraits, busts, stamps, and the like, there were no photographs or television specials to show what the president looked like. When it comes to depicting a nation's leader, there is little room for error; only the most skilled and professional artists come to produce true likenesses of their leaders. For a presidential portraitist, the task of capturing the President is no small matter.

      When it comes to presidential portraiture,there are many factors that play into how the image should taken on and captured. The most important factor is of course mood. What mood should be conveyed in the portrait? Some presidential portraits show the President as a strong figure while others show a more comfortable and compassionate persona. All of these moods need to be appropriate to the President as these portraits show the nation their most elite officer or leader; the President is not only a figurehead, but someone the nation turns to in crisis, and the image of the President is very crucial.

1800 Thomas Jefferson By Rembrandt Peale

This portrait of Thomas Jefferson by Rembrandt Peale depicts the President as a compassionate and learned man, capable of greatness yet still only human. Jefferson's face is stern and serious, yet his eyes are soft and inviting. His brow is set and shows that Jefferson is man of intellect and great wisdom. The President is dressed in serious black, though there is a soothing, pale light peaking from behind his shoulders, giving him an overall gentle feel.

1884 Rutherford B. Hayes By Daniel Huntington

Here, the President, Rutherford B. Hayes, is portrayed as a very serious man and a very serious President. Hayes is standing in a very strong pose, his eyes set straight ahead, and his demeanor is fierce. One arm is at the President's side while the other is positioned on a stack of papers, showing that the President means business.

1869 Abraham Lincoln By P. A. Healy

This strong portrait of Abraham Lincoln, painted by George P. A. Healy, captures the President in a grim and dire air. Here, Lincoln is caught in deep though, sitting in a regal armchair. The President looks so lost in thought that he is looking away to the side, his hand on his chin. The dark shades of brown, black, and red give the portrait a gloomy atmosphere. This dark portrait is befitting to this president considering his term during the Civil War, and his assassination. P. A. Healy had captured President Lincoln as a strong and thoughtful man.

Portraits of the American Presidents were very important back in their day, and remain important today. Without these portraits, the American people may never have known the face of their President.

Here are a few of the other Presidential portraits: