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Primary sourcePainting1807

Abigail Smith Adams (Mrs. John Adams)

Gilbert Stuart · 1807

A portrait of Abigail Adams painted late in her life, now the best-known image of her face.

This portrait of Abigail Adams, painted in 1807, is the most famous surviving image of her.

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Oil portrait of a woman in a white lace bonnet and sheer white lace shawl over a dark red dress, seated with her hands folded, against a dark background. She has curly hair at the temples and looks toward the viewer.
Gilbert Stuart, Abigail Smith Adams (Mrs. John Adams), 1807. National Gallery of Art.

About this source

What it is

This oil portrait of Abigail Adams was painted by the artist Gilbert Stuart in 1807. It shows her as an older woman, wearing a lace bonnet and shawl, seated with her hands folded. It is held today at the National Gallery of Art.

Why it matters

Stuart was one of the most celebrated portrait painters of the early United States, and this painting became the image most people associate with Abigail Adams. It shows how a former First Lady was remembered and visually commemorated after her years at the center of early American politics.

Look closer

  • What does her pose and expression suggest about how Stuart wanted her to be seen?
  • Why might a portrait be painted years after someone held public influence rather than during it?
  • What does the plain dark background tell us was left out of the picture?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Abigail Adams on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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