Unknown maker
Portrait of a Boyca. 1800
In this portrait the artist captured the forceful and confident personality of a boy. More about this work
About this work
In this portrait the artist captured the forceful and confident personality of a boy. The youth wears a jacket, red vest, and a stylish white cravat with an upturned collar, suggesting his future role in society as an upper-class gentleman. The sitter was probably eleven or twelve years old when his portrait was made, but his identity, as well as the artist’s, is unknown.
Text from the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
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.
Rights and the museum’s record
Public domain. The Smithsonian American Art Museum 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
- 1956.11.41
- Credit
- Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
- Type
- Painting
- Department
- Painting and Sculpture
- Licence
- CC0 1.0 Universal
- Museum record
- See it on the museum’s site
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Close in colour
