Artwork
Martin Luther Hurlbut
Martin Luther Hurlbut is an oil painting by the American Folk Art artist John Neagle. It dates from 1840 and is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art.
About this work
If you're interested in learning more about the artist who created this piece, you might want to look up John Neagle.
This painting is a portrait of a man with curly, graying hair and a mustache. He is wearing a dark jacket over a white shirt with a high collar and a small pin on the left side. The background is dark, with a subtle gradient of color behind the subject's head.
The man's attire and hairstyle suggest that the painting is from the 19th century. The artist's use of chiaroscuro, a technique that uses strong contrasts between light and dark to create a sense of volume and depth, adds depth and dimension to the portrait.
The painting is a beautiful example of a portrait from this time period. If you're interested in learning more about the artist who created this piece, you might want to look up John Neagle.
Subject & Meaning
The painting portrays Martin Luther Hurlbut, a young clergyman from New York, embodying mid-19th-century Protestant ideals of moral seriousness and pastoral authority. Neagle's careful rendering of Hurlbut's clerical attire and direct gaze conveys both personal piety and the broader cultural reverence for religious leadership in antebellum America. The work functions as a portrait of clerical virtue rather than overt narrative symbolism, reflecting the sitter's role as a spiritual guide within his community.
The composition emphasizes quiet dignity through restrained detail and naturalistic lighting, suggesting an idealized representation of religious commitment during a period of growing evangelical influence.
Technique & Style
The work is an oil painting executed on canvas, measuring 66.1 cm in height by 54.4 cm in width. It was created in the United States in 1840 and is part of the Cleveland Museum of Art's collection.
The painting employs traditional oil paint applied to a canvas support, reflecting the conventional techniques of mid‑19th‑century American portraiture. Its formal composition and stylistic handling align with the academic realism characteristic of John Neagle's mature period.
History & Provenance
John Neagle executed the oil-on-canvas portrait of Martin Luther Hurlbut in 1840 within the United States. The work measures 66.1 cm in height and 54.4 cm in width. It currently resides in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art, where it is cataloged under the accession number 1915.600.
No specific details regarding the original commission, intermediate ownership history, or the circumstances of its creation beyond the artist and date are provided in the available records.
Martin Luther Hurlbut is part of the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art in Cleveland, Ohio, where it resides under accession number 1915.600. The work is an oil-on-canvas portrait dated 1840, measuring approximately 66.1 cm in height and 54.4 cm in width, and is classified as a painting. It was acquired by the museum and remains on view as part of its American paintings holdings. No specific exhibition history is recorded in the available sources.
Overview
John Neagle, a Philadelphia portraitist active in the early nineteenth century, painted a likeness of Martin Luther Hurlbut in 1840. Executed in oil on canvas, the work presents a seated gentleman with greying, curly hair and a moustache, dressed in a dark jacket over a white high‑collared shirt. The background is a muted, dark field that recedes gently behind the sitter’s head.
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Artist & collection
Artist
John Neagle (November 4, 1796 – September 17, 1865) was a fashionable American painter, primarily of portraits, during the first half of the 19th century in Philadelphia.
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