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Portrait of Thomas Jefferson

Charles Willson Peale · 1791

Charles Willson Peale's 1791 life portrait of Jefferson as the new Secretary of State.

This life portrait shows Jefferson as he looked while serving as Secretary of State.

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Oval painted portrait of a man with light reddish-blond hair, dark eyes, and a dark coat over a tan waistcoat and white cravat, shown in three-quarter view facing left against a dark background, in a silver-toned frame.
Charles Willson Peale, Portrait of Thomas Jefferson, 1791. Independence National Historical Park.

About this source

What it is

An oval oil portrait painted from life by Charles Willson Peale in 1791, showing Jefferson at age forty-eight. It is now held by Independence National Historical Park, in the same building where the Declaration was approved in 1776.

Why it matters

The portrait captures Jefferson early in his role as Secretary of State under President Washington. It once hung in Peale's own museum of science and curiosities in Philadelphia before being moved to Independence Hall, linking the image directly to the building where the Declaration was debated.

Look closer

  • What does Jefferson's clothing and pose suggest about how he wanted to be seen as a government official?
  • Why might this portrait have ended up displayed in the room where the Declaration was approved?
  • What can't a painted portrait tell us about a person's character or ideas?

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

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Porträt Thomas Jefferson

Auguste Gaspard Louis Boucher Desnoyers

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