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Charles Willson Peale
Mrs. Benjamin Harrison (Elizabeth Page), 1775
This work suggests the role of colonial portraiture among Virginia's landed gentry. Elizabeth Page, of Roswell plantation in Gloucester County, became the second wife of Benjamin Harrison, owner of the Brandon on the James River. Peale painted the couple during his trip to Virginia in the spring of 1775 (Mr. Harrison's portrait is owned by Colonial Williamsburg). A financial necessity, the excursion provided successful for Peale, who noted, "I have frequently been employed at Gentlemen's Houses in the Virginia Country without any Charge but that of traveling, you known the character of the Virginians for Hospitality, and by these trips I have but just now worked myself out of debt." The painter next settled in Philadelphia, where he established a reputation as one of federal America's most important painters and cultural leaders.
Peale's elegant depiction of Mrs. Harrison employs European conventions, such as a classical column and drapery, to suggest his sitter's aristocratic sophistication. Yet he highlights her regional identify with a characteristic Tidewater setting -- a "Virginia rail" fence and lowland field. The portrait may have marked the coming birth of the Harrison's only child, Lucy, who later married Richard Willing Byrd of Westover. |