James Knox Polk, President of the United States / engraved by J. Sartain from the original picture painted by T. Sully, Junr. – Historic Print
(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)
Description
James Knox Polk, President of the United States / engraved by J. Sartain from the original picture painted by T. Sully, Junr. comes to life in this historic print, reproduced from the original with every detail intact. The original is held by the Library of Congress, so what you hang is a true record of its time.
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James Knox Polk, President of the United States / engraved by J. Sartain from the original picture painted by T. Sully, Junr.
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This mezzotint translates a painting by Thomas Sully into an engraved portrait of James K. Polk, the dark horse candidate who won the presidency in 1844. Polk took office in March 1845, around the time this print was made, and his single term was dominated by the Mexican-American War and the settlement of the Oregon boundary. The engraver, John Sartain of Philadelphia, used mezzotint, a method that builds soft gradations of tone and suited the painterly quality of Sully's original. The print shows how presidential likenesses were circulated to a wide public before photography became common.
| Created / published | c1845. |
|---|---|
| Medium | 1 print : mezzotint. |
| Genre | Portrait prints 1840-1850.Mezzotints 1840-1850.Paintings Reproductions 1840-1850. |
| Subjects | Polk, James K. (James Knox),--1795-1849. |
| Source | Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division |
| Original scan | 1,028 × 1,280 px · prints to 3 × 4 in at 300 dpi |
| Reference | AMZ-SOTP-HPA-110697 |
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