Samuel Salisbury 1811

This is Gilbert Stuart’s portrait of Samuel Salisbury. Stuart, a leading portraitist in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, captured elites during a time of revolutionary fervor and nation-building. Salisbury’s calm and composed demeanor, framed by his powdered wig and fine clothing, speaks to the visual language of power and status in the early American Republic. But let’s consider what may be absent from this canvas. Where are the laborers, enslaved or free, who generated Salisbury’s wealth and status? What of the Indigenous populations dispossessed of their lands? Stuart’s skillful brushwork immortalizes a figure of authority, yet also invites us to reflect on the complexities of identity, power, and representation in the early American narrative. It is a reminder that every portrait is both a likeness and a carefully constructed image.