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The Children of Nathan Starr

1835
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 736
During a period of high child mortality rates, posthumous portraiture played a pivotal role in capturing the likenesses of lost loved ones. Andrews painted this memorial portrait of the children of Nathan Starr shortly after the death of the youngest son, Edward, who appears at center holding a gaming stick aimed at a flight of white birds in the distance. Depicted in the family’s home in Middletown, Connecticut, the children are bathed in a soft, heavenly light while they play a game of shuttlecock, a precursor to badminton.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Children of Nathan Starr
  • Artist: Ambrose Andrews (American, Stockbridge, Massachusetts 1801–1877 Palmyra, New York)
  • Date: 1835
  • Culture: American
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 28 3/8 x 36 1/2 in. (72.1 x 92.7 cm)
  • Credit Line: Gift of Nina Howell Starr, in memory of Nathan Comfort Starr (1896–1981), 1987
  • Object Number: 1987.404
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing

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4569. The Children of Nathan Starr

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