Portrait Of William Frederick Gray
ArtistProbably
Antoine Chatelain
(French, 1794-1859)
CultureFrench | Italian
Dateca. 1840
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions47 x 39 in. (119.4 x 99.1 cm)
Overall, Frame: 56 1/2 x 49 in. (143.5 x 124.5 cm)
Overall, Frame: 56 1/2 x 49 in. (143.5 x 124.5 cm)
InscribedIn the lower right corner: C [illegible, maybe Cesare] Antonio Chatelain Fecit 1841.
Credit LineGift of Elizabeth S. Hardy
Object number2000.6
Not on view
DescriptionAn oil on canvas portrait, this mid-19th-century Italian portraiture is done in likeness of a distinguished Richmond sitter, William Frederick Gray. It depicts him as a young American on the Grand Tour in 19th-century Italy.Label TextAntoine Chatelain French, active Italy, 1794–1859 William Frederick Gray, ca. 1840 Oil on canvas When William Frederick Gray (1822–1914) toured Europe in 1840, he immersed himself in a world of history, architecture, and art. Here, the young man—son of a prominent tobacco trader from Richmond, Virginia—poses before a ruin-strewn landscape with books and prints at his side. Gray’s educational voyage included visits to the studios of contemporary artists like Antoine Chatelain, creator of this portrait and a skilled copyist of Old Master paintings. In Rome, Gray may also have met American sculptor Thomas Crawford, who carved several of the marble statues in this room. Gift of Elizabeth S. Hardy 2000.6ProvenanceElizabeth S. Hardy; Gift of Elizabeth S. Hardy to the Chrysler Museum of Art, 2000.
