Pat Lyon at the Forge

Most men of his social station were painted in formal attire against a grand architectural backdrop, but Philadelphia businessman and inventor Patrick Lyon chose to have his portrait commemorate the early years of his career, when he worked as a blacksmith. Through the window at left is seen the steeple of Philadelphia's Walnut Street jail, a reminder of Lyons's brief imprisonment after being falsely accused of theft by local merchants. The heroically scaled portrait thus becomes an illustration of Lyons's dramatic rise from humble origins and a proud rejoinder to those who once had maligned him.