Mary Balfour

Mary Balfour

Matthew Pratt
Virginia
Second Half 18th century
Oil on canvas
1968.3
On Loan Courtesy of the Virginia Museum of History and Culture Collection

By the end of the 18th century, a noticeable shift in American portraiture was underway. With their success in the Revolutionary War, Americans began to see themselves as part of a new Republic, based on neoclassical virtues. These new ideas on domesticity, independence, and shared values dominated canvases and shaped the way people viewed the future. The clothing and objects in portraits of the late 18th century, like that of Mary Balfour, sought to embody these classical virtues.