On loan to The Met The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Elkanah Watson
John Singleton Copley, Lord Lyndhurst British
The sitter, an American businessman, may be dressed in the suit he acquired in Paris in 1779 while on a trip to deliver dispatches from the Continental Congress to the French foreign minister at Versailles. Watson then left for England, where he commissioned this portrait, which he appreciated for its appealing naturalism. The sailing vessel in the background flies an American flag, symbolizing George III’s formal recognition of the United States.
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