John H. Surratt Dressed as a Papal Zouave
Artist
Mathew B. Brady
(American, 1823-1896)
CultureAmerican
Date1867
MediumAlbumen print
DimensionsOverall: 7 x 9 in. (17.8 x 22.9 cm)
Credit LineGift of David L. Hack and Museum purchase, with funds from Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., by exchange
Object number98.32.297
Collections
Not on view
DescriptionThe David L. Hack Civil War Photography Collection. Circular framed photograph of a man seated with his legs crossed in a chair in a room with a decorative carpet. Tassels hang from the chair as he leans his elbow off the back piece of the chair. The man has a long thin mustache and has his hair pushed back in a cloth cap with a large tassel hanging on the back of it. He is wearing loose pants and a jacket with two crosses embroidered on the chest area. The bottom reads John H. Surratt. This is from _Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War_ (Hack Collection No. 2].Label TextMathew B. Brady American, 1823−1896 John H. Surratt Dressed as a Papal Zouave, 1867 Albumen print (photograph) John Harrison Surratt, Jr., (1844−1916) was a Confederate spy who had partnered with John Wilkes Booth in an early, failed plot to kidnap President Lincoln. They frequently met at the boarding house owned by his mother, Mary Surratt, who was later hanged with other conspirators. John Surratt fled to Italy, but after two years in hiding as a soldier for the Pope, he was captured and sent back to America to stand trial. Although he confessed to the failed kidnapping, he claimed no part in the assassination and was never convicted. The flamboyant Surratt here poses in his exotic papal Zouave uniform, a souvenir from his time in Italy. Gift of David L. Hack and Museum purchase, with funds from Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., by exchange 98.32.297 Exhibition History"Shooting Lincoln: Photography and the 16th President," Chrysler Museum of Art, February 10 - July 5, 2015.
