Portrait of Marquis Lafayette Purchased by Anne Brown (1956)
Title
Portrait of Marquis Lafayette Purchased by Anne Brown (1956)
Description
The three Americana portraits represent Anne Seddon Kinsolving Brown’s passion for military uniforms and regalia. She acquired the trio of portraits together in 1956 for $14,700. Before Anne bought them, they found their way from France to a military collection in Rhode Island, “a state in whose history each of the three generals had an important part.”
The artist of the portraits of Marquis Lafayette and George Washington is attributed to Jean-Baptiste Le Paon, an eighteenth century French painter. He was known for painting battle and mitiarlistic scenes and was appointed “premier peintre du prince de Conde”. And the portrait of Comte de Rochambeau is attributed to another French painter by the name of Gelee.
The frame of Washington’s portrait depicts the shield of the United States at the top, while the other two feature the Brown family coat of arms.
In this portrait, Lafayette is the midst of a battle or in preparation for one as evident by the brooding natural background. He wears his general’s epaulettes and a blue French-cut ribbon. The blue coat and the black tricorn hat were that of a regimental cavalry officer because,
as Anne Brown notes, he was “proud of his cavalry origins.”
The artist of the portraits of Marquis Lafayette and George Washington is attributed to Jean-Baptiste Le Paon, an eighteenth century French painter. He was known for painting battle and mitiarlistic scenes and was appointed “premier peintre du prince de Conde”. And the portrait of Comte de Rochambeau is attributed to another French painter by the name of Gelee.
The frame of Washington’s portrait depicts the shield of the United States at the top, while the other two feature the Brown family coat of arms.
In this portrait, Lafayette is the midst of a battle or in preparation for one as evident by the brooding natural background. He wears his general’s epaulettes and a blue French-cut ribbon. The blue coat and the black tricorn hat were that of a regimental cavalry officer because,
as Anne Brown notes, he was “proud of his cavalry origins.”
Creator
Le Paon, Jean-Baptiste
Source
Digital copy created by the John Nicholas Brown Center for Public Humanities and Cultural Heritage
Date
Early 1780s (Approx.)
Contributor
Minah Seo
Rights
Rights Status Not Evaluated
Citation
Le Paon, Jean-Baptiste
, “Portrait of Marquis Lafayette Purchased by Anne Brown (1956),” Digital Tours of The Nightingale-Brown House , accessed November 2, 2025, https://cds.library.brown.edu/NBHouse/items/show/55.