Tickets
English
DonateMembershipTickets

Portrait of William Cullen Bryant

1860
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 730
This intimate portrait by renowned landscape painter Sanford Gifford depicts New York poet, newspaper editor, and reformer William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878), who was also a founding trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Based on a carte-de-visite photograph, the painting captures the sitter’s contemplative expression, wrinkled skin, bushy eyebrows, and full white beard, revealing his advancing age. Bryant’s nature-inspired poetry often evoked pleasure in the solitude found in the woods and is related to the aesthetic of the Hudson River School landscape painters with whom he was friends.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Portrait of William Cullen Bryant
  • Artist: Sanford Robinson Gifford (Greenfield, New York 1823–1880 New York, New York)
  • Date: 1860
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: Sight: 8 × 6 in. (20.3 × 15.2 cm)
    Framed: 16 1/2 × 14 7/16 × 2 1/4 in. (41.9 × 36.7 × 5.7 cm)
  • Credit Line: Gift of Laura Grey, in memory of David Grey, 2025
  • Object Number: 2025.793
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing

More Artwork

More Artwork
A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Isola Bella in Lago Maggiore, Sanford Robinson Gifford American, Oil on canvas, American
Isola Bella in Lago Maggiore
Sanford Robinson Gifford
1871
Powder Horn, Horn (cow), lead, American
Powder Horn
American
18th century
George Washington, Gilbert Stuart American, Oil on canvas, American
George Washington
Gilbert Stuart
begun 1795
Vase, Louis C. Tiffany American, Favrile glass, American
Vase
Designer Designed by Louis C. Tiffany
Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company
1893–96
A Gorge in the Mountains (Kauterskill Clove), Sanford Robinson Gifford American, Oil on canvas, American
A Gorge in the Mountains (Kauterskill Clove)
Sanford Robinson Gifford
1862

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please contact us using the form below. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.

Send feedback

Content Notice

The Metropolitan Museum of Art presents over 5,000 years of art from around the world, and our online collection reflects ongoing work conducted over the course of our more than 150-year history. You may encounter objects or images that may be inappropriate for some viewers or information that may be outdated.