2000.6
Portrait of Sarah Bowdoin
Artist
Louis-Léopold Boilly
(La Bassée, France, 7/5/1761 - 1/4/1845, Paris, France)
Title
Portrait of Sarah Bowdoin
Creation Date
ca. 1806-1808
Century
early 19th century
Dimensions
8 9/16 in. x 6 9/16 in. (21.75 cm x 16.67 cm)
Object Type
painting
Creation Place
Europe, France
Medium and Support
oil on canvas
Credit Line
Gift of Donald, Class of 1956, and Susan Zuckert
Copyright
Public Domain
Accession Number
2000.6
Louis-Léopold Boilly, well known for his genre scenes and portraits of the middle class, created this wistful portrait of Sarah Bowdoin. She sat for her likeness while living in Paris with her husband James Bowdoin III, who was on a diplomatic mission for the Jefferson administration. While in France, Sarah documented the family’s daily life in her diary, now in the College’s George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections & Archives. It reveals her active involvement in the couple’s acquisition of fine art and books, collections later bequeathed to the College. After the death of James Bowdoin III in 1811, Sarah married Henry Dearborn, a Revolutionary War veteran and Thomas Jefferson’s secretary of war.