Daniel Crommelin Verplanck1771
Daniel Crommelin Verplanck, a boy of about nine from a prominent New York family, poses with his pet squirrel on a fine chain beside him. More about this work
About this work
Daniel Crommelin Verplanck, a boy of about nine from a prominent New York family, poses with his pet squirrel on a fine chain beside him. Copley painted the portrait during a long visit to New York in 1771, and the squirrel recalls his own celebrated Boy with a Flying Squirrel, which had won him admiration when it was shown in London. The boy’s direct gaze and the leafy setting show the painter at the height of his American career, just a few years before he left for Europe in 1774.
Written by Ochre Editions.
How it was made
- Oil paint
- Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.
John Singleton Copley
American, 1738–1815 · Born in Boston, Massachusetts; died in London.
Copley was largely self-taught and became colonial America’s finest portraitist, painting Boston merchants and their families with sharp, tactile realism, from glinting silver to polished mahogany. In 1774, on the eve of the Revolution, he left for Europe and settled in London, where he turned to large modern history paintings such as Watson and the Shark and The Death of Major Peirson. He never returned to America.
Written by Ochre Editions.
Rights and the museum’s record
Public domain. The Met has dedicated this image to the public domain under CC0, so anyone may copy, adapt and use it, for any purpose, without asking. Our prints and files are reproductions made from the museum’s image; the museum doesn’t endorse them.
- Object number
- 49.12
- Credit
- Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Type
- Painting
- Department
- The American Wing
- Licence
- CC0 1.0 Universal
- Museum record
- See it on the museum’s site
