Subject: frontier rifleman

Culture: Anglo-American

Setting: westward expansion, frontier warfare, trans-Appalachia late 18th-early 19thc

* Virginia Museum of Fine Arts > An Enduring Legacy

"Portrait of Captain Samuel Blodget in Rifle Dress, ca. 1786 JOHN TRUMBULL 1756-1843 Oil on canvas

Period Frame English, ca. 1780 Wood, carved and gilded ...

John Trumbull's dashing portrait of Samuel Blodget shows a young man striding forward, looking back over his shoulder as he gestures energetically with musket and hat. Both artist and sitter intended viewers to see Blodget as an intrepid player on history's stage. Indeed, Blodget served as a captain in the New Hampshire militia during the Revolution, but his likeness was recorded later in Trumbull's London studio. After his military career, Blodget gained considerable fortune as a merchant in the East India trade. He then tried his hand as an architect, designing the still-extant Bank of the United States in Philadelphia, serving later as Superintendent of Buildings in Washington, D.C.

"Although Blodget is picture here in contemporary dress, Trumbull called upon well-known references to antiquity to emphasize the importance of his sitter. Blodget's pose recalls both that of the ancient marble, the Apollo Belvedere, and various depictions of Venus the Huntress. Paintings by Trumbull rarely come on the market -- most are in the collection of Yale University, given by Trumbull upon his death. This picture was once offered to the U.S. Capitol."