John Henry Adam by Anson Dickinson
This miniature portrait, "John Henry Adam" by Anson Dickinson, painted in 1835, is a fascinating example of a memorial piece where the subject's age on the portrait is not what it seems. While we see a young boy, the inscriptions reveal a different story.
Look closely at the various inscriptions. The delicate watercolor on ivory shows a boy from 1835, but the date 1870 and the age 48 suggest a later commemoration. This piece was likely a posthumous portrait, remembering the man John Henry Adam at the time of his death, perhaps using an earlier likeness of him as a child.
Anson Dickinson was a celebrated American miniaturist in his lifetime, known for his ability to capture detailed likenesses in small formats. While he enjoyed considerable fame then, his work is less recognized today. This painting offers a glimpse into a common practice of the time: honoring individuals through portraits, even decades after they were painted, connecting past and present through art.
What do you think it felt like to commission a portrait of a loved one who had passed, depicting them as they once were?
Details
Transcript
This painter was famous for miniature portraits. He painted this boy in 1835. But the subject is not actually the boy at all. This is a memorial portrait, painted in 1870. The boy was born in 1822. He died at age 48. The portrait memorializes a man who died, not a boy.