Thomas Jefferson
Medium
Classification
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Accession Number
NPG.87.58.3
Tags
About this artwork
Born Shadwell, Virginia
Art Historical Context
This lithographic portrait of Thomas Jefferson, created around 1828 by French artist Nicolas Eustache Maurin (1799–1850), captures the third U.S. President in a dignified bust format shortly after his death in 1826. Maurin, a skilled exponent of lithography—an innovative printing technique that allowed for detailed, mass-reproducible images—produced this work as part of a series honoring prominent Americans. Displayed with symbols like an inkwell, quill, books, papers, and a table, it evokes Jefferson's multifaceted life as a writer, statesman, and intellectual. The portrait highlights Jeffer...