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Primary sourcePainting1806

Thomas Paine

John Wesley Jarvis · 1806

An 1806 oil portrait of an aged Thomas Paine, painted by John Wesley Jarvis in New York during Paine's final, largely shunned years.

This late portrait shows Paine in his final years in New York, after he had become isolated and unpopular.

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Oil portrait of an older man with gray hair swept back, wearing a dark coat, black collar and white cravat, against a dark reddish-brown background. He has a slight closed-mouth smile and looks directly at the viewer.
John Wesley Jarvis, Thomas Paine, 1806.

About this source

What it is

This is an oil portrait of Thomas Paine, painted by John Wesley Jarvis in 1806. It shows Paine as an older man, painted in New York near the end of his life.

Why it matters

By 1806 Paine had returned to the United States but was widely ostracised for his religious writings and radical politics. This portrait captures him in those final, difficult years, offering a very different image from the celebrated hero of earlier portraits—reminding students that the same person can be remembered very differently at different points in their life.

Look closer

  • How does this portrait of Paine compare with earlier images made when he was more celebrated?
  • What might Jarvis have wanted to convey through Paine's expression and gaze?
  • Why might an artist still choose to paint someone who had become unpopular?

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

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Title page of the 1776 Philadelphia pamphlet Common Sense, addressed to the Inhabitants of America, printed by R. Bell in Third Street. Handwritten annotations include a name in the top corner and Thomas Paine's name near the bottom.Book

Primary source

Common Sense

Thomas Paine · 10 January 1776

Photograph of the first page of a printed 1776 pamphlet titled The American Crisis, Number I, by Thomas Paine, with handwritten annotations at the top reading 'by Thomas Paine' and 'published in the Penn. Journal' and 'June 1776'. The printed text begins 'These are the times that try men's souls.'Book

Primary source

The American Crisis

Thomas Paine · 1776-1783

Title page of Rights of Man, reading 'Rights of Man: Being an Answer to Mr. Burke's Attack on the French Revolution, by Thomas Paine, Secretary for Foreign Affairs to Congress in the American War, and Author of the Work Intitled Common Sense. London: Printed for J. S. Jordan, No. 166, Fleet-Street. MDCCXCI.' Handwritten ink marks appear in the upper right corner.Book

Primary source

Rights of Man

Thomas Paine · 1791-1792

Title page of The Age of Reason by Thomas Paine. Text reads: 'The Age of Reason; Being an Investigation of True and Fabulous Theology. By Thomas Paine, Secretary for Foreign Affairs to Congress in the American War, and author of the works entitled Common Sense, and Rights of Man, &c. Paris: Printed by Barrois. London: Sold by D. I. Eaton, at the Cock and Swine, No. 74, Newgate-street. 1794. Price two shillings.'Book

Primary source

The Age of Reason

Thomas Paine · 1794-1807

Scan of the engrossed Declaration of Independence on aged parchment. Heading reads 'In Congress, July 4, 1776' with the title 'The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America' below. Dense handwritten text fills the page; signatures appear at the bottom.Document

Primary source

Declaration of Independence

Continental Congress (drafted by Thomas Jefferson) · 1776

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