James Madison’s Montpelier

The Case of the Missing Painting

The Presidential Detective Story is well underway and we have already had some great finds. One of these is the painting  Pan –  Youths & Nymphs.¹ The painting recently returned to Montpelier. Here is the back story on its journey home:

Gerrit Van Honthorst, Pan, Youths & Nymphs, ca. 1630

Our curatorial team first saw Pan –  Youths & Nymphs listed in the anonymous document “Oil Paintings at Montpellier” (circa 1836-44). Next, the team found an 1846 newspaper article that describes the work hanging over a mantel in Dolley Madison’s Lafayette Square house in Washington, D.C. The article called it “a very old painting representing a group of maidens surprised by Pan while playing in a grove.”²

Then the trail went cold. We knew John Payne Todd (Dolley’s son) held a sale of her property nearly two years after her 1849 death.  A newspaper account following the sale noted at least one of the “large works” remained unsold. Could Pan – Youths & Nymphs be one of these paintings?  If so, where did it go?

Continue Reading…

Provenance

After our last update, we were asked: what is “curatorial research” and how do Montpelier’s researchers go about figuring out whether an object belonged to the Madisons or not. Curatorial research can be very involved, but let’s start with “provenance” and continue from there over the next few posts.

So what exactly is provenance? You may have heard the term if you have visited a museum, watched “Antiques Roadshow” or “History Detectives”, or collect antiques. A good definition for “provenance” is, “a history of who owned an object”. As you can imagine, at Montpelier, we are very interested in objects that were previously owned by James and Dolley Madison; one way to describe these pieces is to say that they had “Madison provenance”.

Figuring out an object’s history often starts with finding out how the current owner acquired it. From there, many times we can work backwards from one owner to the next – and, if we are lucky, we may be able to trace the piece all the way back to James and Dolley Madison. For some objects, we are able to easily determine provenance because others have already documented it or a clear chain of ownership exists. For other pieces there are gaps in the chain of ownership. Our goal then becomes filling in the gaps. Continue Reading…

Peaceful Succession of Presidential Power – Part Two

In 1833 New York publisher George P. Morris embarked upon the publication of another print depicting the presidential succession. Writing to James Madison on April 13,^[1] Morris informed him that he was producing a “Splendid National Engraving.”  He hoped the former President would allow him to borrow one of his portraits in order that it might be engraved by Asher B. Durand for inclusion in the image. Madison, however, informed Morris that his wife Dolley, “to whom the portrait belongs,” had some aversion to the loan of his portrait by Gilbert Stuart on account of previous problems with the shipping of the work.^[2] Intent on having Madison’s portrait, Morris sent Durand to Montpelier that fall, where he painted a new portrait of Madison.^[3]

Since Gimbrede’s print was created in 1812, there had been three additional presidents peacefully sworn into office–James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, and Andrew Jackson. Morris’s presidential group was more emblematic than Gimbrede’s earlier effort. In his depiction the portraits were grouped around a mirror displayed over a pier table, with Washington’s portrait once again given pride of place at the top of the grouping.

Although not immediately obvious, the engraving shows the portraits as hung on the wall of a room or hall, the other three walls being evident in the reflection in the mirror. Also reflected in the mirror is a statue of a woman, holding a pole topped by a Phyrgian cap. Since Roman antiquity this cap had served as a symbol of liberty, and therefore the statue is meant to personify Liberty. Thus, the depiction suggests that the portraits of the presidents are displayed in the “hall of liberty.”

Other symbols in the engraving demonstrate the nature of American liberty. On the skirt of the table is found an unusual symbol.

Depicting a spiral club with lightning bolts and wings, this ancient symbol has long been understood to represent the thunder and lightning of Zeus (or Jupiter to the Romans), the king of the Gods in classical mythology.

Therefore the symbol represents supreme power as well as military might. Often used during the French Revolution, the symbol was appropriated by Napoleon to demonstrate his ultimate authority over the French people.

However, here in the hall of American worthies, it is the power of words which has secured authority, and therefore continued liberty, as demonstrated by the quill pen which rests on the top of the table. The rose which accompanies it is perhaps meant to suggest that, unlike previous governments which had relied on military might to secure and hold power, this American liberty is gentle.

Morris promised Madison that he would send him a early proof impression of the engraving, which was intended for his publication, the New-York Mirror. Whether this print ever arrived at Montpelier, or hung on its walls, is not currently known. However, Madison’s own display of the presidents in the Drawing Room was a constant visual demonstration of the power of liberty secured through the pen.^[4]

1 George P. Morris to James Madison, April 13, 1833, The James Madison Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
2 James Madison to George P. Morris, April, 1833, The James Madison Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
3 This portrait is now in the collection of The New-York Historical Society
4 For more on Madison’s Drawing Room arrangement, see Peaceful Succession of Presidential Power – Part One.

Peaceful Succession of Presidential Power – Part One

During the recent inaugural ceremonies for America’s 44th president, Barack Obama, there was much discussion in the media regarding the peaceful succession of power evident in this and every American inauguration. It may be difficult for those of us living in the twenty-first century to understand, but in the eighteenth century the idea that one leader (let alone an elected leader) would peacefully turn over the leadership of a nation to another leader was a radically new idea.

The generation of Americans who founded the United States was unsure that their “experiment” would work. However, the first transitions went well, and by James Madison’s inauguration in 1809 this peaceful succession became something to commemorate. Artists like Thomas Gimbrede began to produce prints depicting these players on this new World stage. In 1812 Gimbrede sent Madison a version of his new print.

Madison and his wife Dolley were well aware of their place in this newly formed government. In 1804, the Madisons began collecting portraits of the presidents, beginning with one of then-president Thomas Jefferson, under whom James was serving as Secretary of State, as well as one of George Washington. By the early 1820s they had also acquired portraits of John Adams, our second president, and James Monroe, our fifth. Many visitors to Montpelier noted these portraits were displayed in the Drawing Room of the house, including one who observed that they were all “hanging together in a corner of the room” (”Mr. Madison. (Extract of a Letter),” Salem Gazette (Salem, MA), 11/20/1835).

As part of the restoration of Montpelier, the architectural research team mapped all of the nail holes that survived in the plaster of the Drawing Room–the only room in the mansion to retain its original plaster. Using this physical evidence in conjunction with visitor descriptions, the curatorial department determined that the presidential portraits were displayed on the wall to the right as one enters the room.

The size of the known portraits and the length of the wall indicated that no more than three portraits could have been hung in a row. The physical evidence supported this possibility, as there were nail holes evident that could have been used for the nails to hang three portraits. In addition evidence of a nail hole right below the cornice suggested another location from which an additional portrait could have been hung. Given that Gimbrede sent Madison a version of his print several years before the Madisons retired to Montpelier, the combined evidence suggested that in a portrait group of presidential portraits the one of George Washington would be raised higher than the others to give it prominence and to suggest his elevated station as the first president.

Notably, the Madisons chose not to hang James’ portrait in the middle of this presidential grouping. They instead hung it along side of his wife Dolley on the opposite wall. Perhaps suggesting a certain sense of humility, this choice most certainly indicates the Madisons’ wish to be presented alongside of one another to the many visitors they entertained.

to be continued…

Image credits: Thomas Gimbrede print “American Star,” Library of Congress. The paintings illustrated are copies of those believed to have originally been owned by the Madisons including: Portrait of George Washington by Gilbert Stuart, Clarkson University; Portrait of John Adams by John Trumbull, National Portrait Gallery; Portrait of James Monroe by John Vanderlyn, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation; Portrait of Thomas Jefferson by Gilbert Stuart, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. The original portraits of James and Dolley Madison by Gilbert Stuart are owned respectively by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and The White House. Montpelier Drawing Room photographs copyright Montpelier Foundation.