Minneapolis Institute of Art

Portrait of a Boy

attributed to James B. Read

Date

1856

Medium

Oil on canvas

Department

Arts of the Americas

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Standing on the porch, dressed in his Sunday best and holding his hat, this boy looks as if he’s about to leave home. He already has. During the 1800s, to ease the grief caused by a family member’s death, it was customary to observe mourning rituals. These included marking anniversaries of the death by formally viewing a portrait of the deceased. From the traditional mourning colors of red, white, and black, the keepsake book, and the threatening sky, we know this painting served that purpose. The fast-fading roses symbolize the briefness of life, and the clinging honeysuckle vine represents the attachment of the living to the dead. United States, Americas

The authoritative record is held by Minneapolis Institute of Art. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.