_Reverend Jonathan Mayhew_ by John Greenwood

Collection ID: ART.001391
Type: Art
Date: 1750
Geography: United States
Language: N/A
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Dimensions: 32.25 × 27.37 × 1 in. (81.9 × 69.5 × 2.5 cm)
Exhibit Location: On View in the Bowden Gallery of Biblical Art, Impact of the Bible in the World

This portrait beautifully demonstrates the increasing skill of American-born painters by the mid-18th century. John Greenwood, an American portraitist and satirist, was best known for a painting titled, Sea Captains Carousing in Surinam (1755), a drunken scene featuring prominent early American merchants and politicians.

Jonathan Mayhew (1720–1766) was a Congregational minister. His outspoken political and religious liberalism made him a controversial figure in colonial New England. He believed that resistance to tyranny was a Christian duty, and he was an ardent defender of civil liberties.

Painted in 1750 by John Greenwood. Acquired by 2019 by Ted Steinbock, private collector, Louisville, Kentucky; Privately purchased in 2020 by Museum of the Bible, Washington, DC.