The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-08-15
o1Me EAMPIES OF FRAUD NATIONAL PoRTR A1rURRE

known Charles Wilson Peale portrai
OF Francis Hopkinson was really a like
ness of Samuel Vaughan, the EngIis1
Itlehd and admirer of Washington
painted by Robert Edge Pine. Th
statements of such an authority are no
only interesting. but highly important
lnasmuch as they. in many cases. en-
tlfely rearrange our Dreconceived no
ions OF what the great men of othei
days were like.
The number of socalled portraits.
continued Mr.. Hart. which have beer
proved false, but which still continne -
mlslead visitors TO the various galleries
or 10 win undeserved notice in our pub
tic prints, IS well calculated 10 astonish
one acquainted with the facts. For in
stance every sehoolboy, of Macauley's
type or otherwise, is familiar with the
accepted print of Patrick Henry. Comics
or that familiar portrait look ollt from
the pages of the history books or per-
haps, beam down from the walls of
many an ancestral homestead. You
VIII ind il in the Dictionary of Ma
tional Biography, with the old fash
toned horn spectacles depicted resting
on the apex of the patriots wig.
Now, l loath to shatter an agree
able Illusion, but that benignant. high
~ venerated portrait Of Patrick Henry
IS actually an excellent likeness, with
out those cleverly added spectacIes of
The celebrated circumnavigator. Can
tain James Cook. The pseudo portrait
is a genuine work by Thomas Sully. but
IL IS not portrait of the great Ameri-
can. When Patrick Henry died, Sully
was scarcely 10 years of age There
was no counterfeit presentment of Hen
ry in existence; in fact. the man who
preferred death to tyranny had never
been painted except in a miniature.
which was lost But, as his portrait
was greatly in demand, some one. to
supply the deficiency. probably looked
around for face that resembled that
of Patrick Henry and Captain Cook
was selected, for certainly the picture
which passes for Patrick Henry was
copied from a portrait of Cook.
This is bad enough, but only repre-
seEtS one CT a score Of cases. Take for
instance the modern foisting upon the
puolic OF II spurious portraits labeled
as sisaers OF the Declaration of indie
pendence. The IL pioneers of freedom
thus rudely made free with are William
Whipple, George Taylor, Button Gwin-
net, John Morton, James Smith, Mat
thew Thornton, John Penn, William
Hooper, Carter Braxton, Caesar Rod /
ney ard John Hart. A certain New
York collector was DESTROYS of CONFLICT !
ing his set of signers. Accordingly he /
employed a skillful portrait painter and
gave him carte blanche. The artist col /
lected some meagre details preserved /
by tradition anent the facial and bodily 1
of these IL signers. This !
done, he shut himself I'D in a studio /
and painted the entire IL portraits, |
which were artistieally etched and are
now widely circulated, as counterfeit
preSentments.
In Paul Z. Fcrd's book, The True
George Washington, is an alleged por-
trait of Nelly GUSTS, which happens to
be a familiar and Well known study of
Sarah Siddons, the famous tragedienne.
There is no known authentic likeness
Of General Charles Lee, second in COM
nand in the Army of the Revolution.
4 club Of virtuosi, however, wishing to
own such a prize, had H. B. Hall of
New York etch an exact portrait of
Arthur O'Connor, who commanded the
IRISH guides under Napoleon, and
passed this off as picture of Lee. The
original O'Connor painting hung for
-ears in Peales' museum.
Not many years ago was aston
she'd to observe that a first class New
Tork magazine printed a portrait of {
William Won Humboldt, the philologist, {
4 mistake for one of mis- famous broth {
7, Alexander, the great traveller; while ,