Object Details
- Artist
- Alphonse Legros, 8 May 1837 - 8 Dec 1911
- Sitter
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 27 Feb 1807 - 24 Mar 1882
- Exhibition Label
- Born Portland, Maine
- In the nineteenth century, when poetry was a highly popular literary genre, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow rose to unparalleled fame as the first professional poet in the United States. Longfellow appealed to his readers’ patriotic pride by mythologizing episodes from the pre-Revolutionary era of American history. Epic works such as The Song of Hiawatha (1855), The Courtship of Miles Standish (1858), and Paul Revere’s Ride (1861) became instant best-sellers. Decades after their publication, the poems were still memorized and recited by American schoolchildren and adults.
- Longfellow’s poems gained wider recognition as cultural exports and were translated into eighteen different languages by the turn of the century. The poet received honorary degrees from Oxford and Cambridge in the late 1860s and is the only non-Briton to be honored in the Poet’s Corner of Westminster Abbey in London. This lithograph, made in England by the French artist Alphonse Legros, attests to Longfellow’s status as a venerated international celebrity.
- Nacido en Portland, Maine
- En el siglo XIX, cuando la poesía era un género literario muy popular, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow alcanzó una fama sin igual como primer poeta profesional en Estados Unidos. Longfellow apelaba al orgullo patrio de sus lectores mitificando episodios anteriores a la época revolucionaria. Obras épicas como El canto de Hiawatha (1855), El cortejo de Miles Standish (1858) y La cabalgata de Paul Revere (1861) fueron éxitos de venta inmediatos. Décadas después de publicarse, aún eran memorizadas y recitadas por colegiales y adultos.
- Los poemas de Longfellow se divulgaron aún más como bienes de exportación cultural, y para fines de siglo se habían traducido a 18 idiomas. El autor recibió diplomas honoríficos de Oxford y Cambridge a fines de la década de 1860 y es el único poeta no británico honrado en el “rincón de los poetas” de la abadía de Westminster en Londres. Esta litografía realizada en Inglaterra por el artista francés Alphonse Legros da fe de la posición de Longfellow como venerada celebridad internacional.
- Credit Line
- National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift from the Trustees of the Corcoran Gallery of Art (Gift of E. Gerald Lamboley) The Corcoran Gallery of Art, one of the country’s first private museums, was established in 1869 to promote art and American genius. In 2014 the Works from the Corcoran Collection were distributed to institutions in Washington, D.C.
- c. 1863-82
- Object number
- NPG.2019.69
- Restrictions & Rights
- CC0
- Type
- Medium
- Lithograph on paper
- Dimensions
- Image: 22.6 × 28.2 cm (8 7/8 × 11 1/8")
- Sheet (overall): 43.3 × 31.8 cm (17 1/16 × 12 1/2")
- Mat (overall): 50.8 × 40.6 cm (20 × 16")
- See more items in
- National Portrait Gallery Collection
- Location
- Currently not on view
- National Portrait Gallery
- Topic
- Personal Attribute\Facial Hair\Mustache
- Personal Attribute\Facial Hair\Beard
- Costume\Outerwear\Coat\Jacket
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Male
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Arts and Culture\Literature\Writer
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Arts and Culture\Literature\Writer\Poet
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Arts and Culture\Education and Scholarship\Educator\Professor\College
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Arts and Culture\Education and Scholarship\Scholar\Translator
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Social Welfare and Reform\Reformer\Social reformer\Civil rights activist\Abolitionist
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Arts and Culture\Literature\Writer\Playwright
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Arts and Culture\Education and Scholarship\Scholar\Linguist
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Arts and Culture\Education and Scholarship\Educator\Librarian
- Portrait
- Record ID
- npg_NPG.2019.69
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm4a7d5cf28-e646-47c7-a2cb-18bd67c16957
