Elias Jonathan Dayton

About the Art

The sitter, Elias Jonathan Dayton (1780–1824), was the son of Jonathan Dayton (1760–1824), after whom the city of Dayton was named. This fashionable portrait, with its rich brushwork and vibrant colors, reflects the aesthetic sensibility of the Romantic period in which it was painted.

This work was made within two years of the artist’s return from studies in London, England. Working in Philadelphia, Sully gained wide recognition for his elegant, English-style portraits, and painted the likenesses of leading politicians, including Presidents Thomas Jefferson, John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson.

FEATURED IMAGE
Thomas Sully (American, 1783–1872), Elias Jonathan Dayton, 1813, oil on canvas, 35 1/2 x 28 1/2 inches (90.2 x 72.4 cm). Museum purchase from the Spencer-Dayton Family, 1944.87.1