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Gilbert Stuart (American, 1755–1828)
Bishop Jean-Louis Anne Magdelaine Lefebvre de Cheverus, 1823
Oil on canvas; 36 1/4 x 28 1/2 in. (92.1 x 72.4 cm)
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Bequest of Mrs. Charlotte Gore Greenough Hervoches du Quilliou
21.9
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Stuart rarely painted a portrait that made directness so alluring. Cheverus (1768–1836) spent twenty-seven years inviting, but not pressing, Bostonians to join him in his faith, to explore their fascination with Catholicism. By Stuart's facile brush, as the bishop's canopy billows above him and he offers benediction to all who witness his benign but charismatic gaze, he is an evangelist. Stuart painted the portrait for Mary Babcock Gore, who requested a likeness of the "dear little bishop." She also ordered a portrait of the Reverend John S. Gardiner of Trinity Church, perhaps balancing her attachment to Cheverus with her regard for the leader of the church she actually attended.
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