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Primary sourcePaintingc. 1805-1807

Thomas Paine, Oil Portrait by John Wesley Jarvis

John Wesley Jarvis · c. 1805-1807

An oil portrait of Thomas Paine painted in America around 1805-1807, near the end of his life.

This late-life portrait shows Paine as an older man in America, near the end of his career.

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Oil portrait of a man with graying hair, shown from the chest up against a dark background. He wears a dark coat, a high white collar, and a white cravat, and he faces the viewer with a slight closed-mouth expression.
John Wesley Jarvis, Thomas Paine, c. 1805-1807.

About this source

What it is

This oil portrait of Thomas Paine was painted by John Wesley Jarvis, likely between about 1805 and 1807, while Paine was living in America.

Why it matters

Painted late in Paine's life, this portrait shows him as an older man, long after his famous pamphlets had shaped revolutionary debate in America and France. Jarvis was an artist connected to figures of the American Revolutionary generation, making this a valuable record of how Paine appeared near the end of his life.

Look closer

  • How does this older image of Paine compare with earlier portraits made when he was younger?
  • What does his expression and clothing suggest about his life and reputation by this time?
  • Why might an artist want to paint Paine so late in his life?

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

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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

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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

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Rights of Man

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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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