General La Fayette

Publisher Nathaniel Currier

Periodca. 1840 - 1850

MediumLithograph with hand coloring

Dimensions13 × 9 in. (33 × 22.9 cm)

InscribedInscribed in lower margin, "GENERAL LA FAYETTE."

SignedSigned in lower margin, "Lith. & Pub. by N. Currier, 2 Spruce St. New - York."

ClassificationsPrints

Credit LineGift of Mrs. J. Amory Haskell, 1934

Object number636

DescriptionFull length image of a mature male facing left dressed in dark trousers, a dark jacket, white shirt and stock, and a lighter overcoat. He is carrying a walking stick and a top hat in his right hand, and his left hand is positioned on his hip. He is posed on a grassy area, with clouds in the sky behind him. His face features a prominent nose, and wavy, unruly hair.
Curatorial RemarksThis lithograph shows the hero of the Franco-American alliance as an older man dressed in civilian garb. It was one of many nineteenth-century copies of the classic image of Lafayette––a romantic portrait by the Dutch-born French painter Ary Scheffer that was given to the U.S. House of Representatives in honor of Lafayette’s celebratory farewell tour of America (1824–25). Currier’s interpretation is the more idealized of the two, but, like the painting on which it was based, it effectively captures Lafayette’s noble bearing as well as his oval face, high forehead, and broad frame: he was stout yet remained a robust and dashing figure in his later years.NotesThe Marquis de Lafayette (born Marie-Joseph Gilbert du Motier, 1757–1834) was a French aristocrat and military officer who joined the American Revolution as a volunteer at age nineteen. The youngest member of Washington’s staff at the Battle of Monmouth, he was courageous yet impetuous: when the battle-hardened General Lee told the Frenchman that the Americans were no match for the skilled British forces, Lafayette replied: “It may be so, general; but British soldiers have been beaten, and they may be again; at any rate, I am disposed to make the trial.” Lafayette’s participation in the Battle of Monmouth marked the beginning of his close friendship with George Washington, to whom he became an “adopted son.”

Collections