History:The artist's signature is in the lower dexter corner and the date is in the lower sinester corner. This portrait is a full figure view of the seated subject. There is a drape to the subject's left. This portrait is said to have been painted from a photo of Jefferson Davis taken about the time he served as Secretary of War.
Notes:Jefferson Davis (1808-89) was born in KY. He received his education at Transylvania University, attended West Point (1824-28) and served in the Black Hawk War (1830-31) and in the Mexican War. He served in the U.S. Senate (1847) until he resigned in 1851. He was then Secretary of War under President Franklin Pierce. He was chosen as President of the Confederate State of American February 22, 1862. He was capture after the end of the Civil War by Union troops and indicted for treason. He was paroled in 1867, returned to Mississippi and spent the rest of his life writing.
