Portrait of a Woman

Robert Street (1796–1865)

1834

Oil on canvas

Gift of Sewell C. Biggs; 1992.45

Robert Street began his career in Philadelphia as a painter of historic events, but he began focusing on portraiture in the 1820s. Here he emphasized the sitter's wealth and fashionable status by adding expensive jewelry and allusions to classical architecture, such as the column in the background.