# Portrait of Jean Terford David

- By: Thomas Sully (American, born England, 1783–1872)
- Date: 1813
- Medium: oil on canvas
- Classification: Painting
- Dimensions: Framed: 122 x 103 x 10 cm (48 1/16 x 40 9/16 x 3 15/16 in.); Unframed: 89.5 x 70.5 cm (35 1/4 x 27 3/4 in.)
- Culture: United States
- Credit line: Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust
- Museum: [Cleveland Museum of Art](https://clevelandart.org/art/1916.1979.1)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://invisiblenetwork.ai/thumbs/cma/1916.1979.1/1916.1979.1_web.jpg
- Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

According to his own inventory, the astonishingly productive Thomas Sully painted more than 2,600 works during his career. Most of these paintings were commissioned portraits, including this one of John Terford David, who had just recently married. French-born David was an American officer who served as a paymaster during the War of 1812. His rank is indicated by the fringed epaulet on his left shoulder and the lack of one on his right. In composing the portrait, Sully ingeniously positioned David's body on an angle to emphasize the single epaulet and downplay the uniform's lack of symmetry.