
Elijah Boardman1789
Ralph Earl painted this in 1789, aged 38. It is now at The Met in New York. More about this work
About this work
Ralph Earl painted this in 1789, aged 38. It is now at The Met in New York.
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.
Ralph Earl
American, 1751–1801 · Born in Worcester County, Massachusetts; died in Bolton, Connecticut.
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
- 1979.395
- 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









