Monroe Portrait

This partially finished portrait of James Monroe is thought to be the work of American artist Bass Otis (1784-1861). In 1816, Otis was hired by Philadelphia publisher Joseph Delaplaine to execute a number of small portraits of former presidents and other notable persons in 1816-17 for a catalogue titled "Delaplaine's Repository of the Lives and Portraits of Distinguished Americans." The catalogue ceased publication before Monroe's biography was included, but his portrait was exhibited by Delaplaine in Philadelphia, and later by P.T. Barnum in his American Museum in New York City, before disappearing from the public record. The James Monroe Museum purchased this portrait in 2015, and after extensive research has concluded that it is almost certainly the "lost" Bass Otis likeness, which shows Monroe at the start of his presidency.