Object Details
Artist
Francis Bicknell Carpenter, 1830 - 1900
Sitter
Salmon Portland Chase, 13 Jan 1808 - 7 May 1873
Exhibition Label
Born Cornish, New Hampshire
As a lawyer and antislavery leader in Ohio, Salmon P. Chase was known as the “attorney general” for enslaved people who escaped captivity. At a time when almost no one in the free press objected to slavery, Chase openly denounced the Compromise of 1850 and the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. He also played a foundational role in building the Republican Party by uniting radical abolitionists and moderate liberals.
This portrait by Francis Bicknell Carpenter, who is best known for painting President Abraham Lincoln, is a replica after an original from 1855, the year Chase was elected governor of Ohio. A widely distributed print based on the image increased Chase’s public profile. He went on to become Lincoln’s treasury secretary (1861–64) and the sixth chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. In the latter role, which he served until his death, Chase deftly handled complex constitutional problems created by the Civil War and Reconstruction.
Nacido en Cornish, Nuevo Hampshire
El abogado y líder antiesclavista de Ohio, Salmon P. Chase, era conocido como el “procurador” de los esclavos que huían del cautiverio. En tiempos en que la prensa libre apenas objetaba a la esclavitud, Chase denunció abiertamente el Compromiso de 1850 y la Ley de Kansas-Nebraska de 1854. También tuvo un papel esencial en la formación del Partido Republicano, laborando por unir a abolicionistas radicales y liberales moderados.
Esta obra de Francis Bicknell Carpenter, más conocido por sus retratos de Abraham Lincoln, es réplica de un original de 1855, año en que Chase fue elegido gobernador de Ohio. Una lámina basada en la imagen se divulgó ampliamente y aumentó la prominencia de Chase. Más tarde Chase fue secretario del tesoro bajo Lincoln (1861–64) y sexto juez presidente del Tribunal Supremo. En este último cargo, que ocupó hasta su muerte, abordó con destreza los complejos problemas constitucionales creados por la Guerra Civil y la Reconstrucción.
Provenance
(Robert Schoelkopf Gallery, New York); purchased 1969 by NPG.
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of David Rockefeller
Date
1861
Object number
NPG.69.47
Restrictions & Rights
CC0
Type
Painting
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
Stretcher: 30.5 x 25.7 x 2.5cm (12 x 10 1/8 x 1")
Frame: 42.9 × 38.1 × 7.9cm (16 7/8 × 15 × 3 1/8")
See more items in
National Portrait Gallery Collection
Exhibition
Out of Many: Portraits from 1600 to 1900
On View
NPG, East Gallery 110a
Data Source
National Portrait Gallery
Topic
Salmon Portland Chase: Male
Salmon Portland Chase: Law and Crime\Lawyer
Salmon Portland Chase: Politics and Government\Presidential candidate
Salmon Portland Chase: Politics and Government\Government official\Cabinet member\Secretary of Treasury
Salmon Portland Chase: Politics and Government\Government official\Governor\Ohio
Salmon Portland Chase: Politics and Government\Government official\Cabinet member\Secretary of State
Salmon Portland Chase: Politics and Government\Government official\US Senator\Ohio
Salmon Portland Chase: Social Welfare and Reform\Reformer\Social reformer\Civil rights activist\Abolitionist
Salmon Portland Chase: Law and Crime\Judge\Justice\US Supreme Court Justice\Chief Justice of US
Portrait
Link to Original Record
Record ID
npg_NPG.69.47