Daniel Webster
Miniature portrait, watercolor on ivory by Sarah Goodridge, 1827
Portrait: 9 cm x 7.7 cm; in black lacquered wood frame with flat glass: 10.5 cm x 9 cm
Sarah Goodridge painted this miniature watercolor portrait of Daniel Webster, the highly regarded orator, congressman, and secretary of state, in 1827, shortly after he was elected to the U.S. Senate. At the time, miniature painting was considered an appropriate artistic expression for women who were often denied more ambitious careers, and Goodridge was one of America's most distinguished and prolific miniature painters. Largely self-taught, she was born in Templeton, Mass., but moved to Boston in 1820 to open her studio. The artist Gilbert Stuart became her mentor and she experienced almost immediate success in Boston. This was the first of seven miniature portraits Goodridge would paint of Webster, and the two developed a lifelong friendship.
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