Jeremiah Belknap, by Joseph Badger, c. 1758
Gallery mode Full size at the museum

Window mode follows your eyes with your camera, in this browser only: no picture or position leaves your device.

Jeremiah Belknap

Joseph Badger (American, born The Thirteen Colonies, 1708–1765)

c. 1758

Medium
oil on canvas
Classification
Painting
Dimensions
Framed: 121.9 x 97.2 x 7.6 cm (48 x 38 1/4 x 3 in.); Unframed: 107 x 84 cm (42 1/8 x 33 1/16 in.)
Culture
United States
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art, American Painting and Sculpture
Credit line
Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust
Rights
Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
Who can see it
Teens profiles and older: its museum says too little about what it shows to place it for younger viewers. How works are placed

View at the Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

Lacking formal training, Badger got his start painting houses and signs in Boston, then shifted his focus to accommodate the increasing market for portraits in the colonies. Jeremiah Belknap is shown here at about 7 years old, but his attire gives him the appearance of a miniature adult. The artist’s portraits of children often include fruit and animals—the ripening peach in Belknap’s right hand suggests maturation, while the dog at his feet symbolizes loyalty.