Dolley Madison served as White House hostess during the administrations of the widowed Thomas Jefferson and her own husband, James Madison. Her effervescence doubtless accounted, in part at least, for the popularity of Madison's presidency in its last several years. After Madison's presidency ended in 1817, Dolley helped him put his papers in order, selling a portion of them to the United States Congress after his death. William Elwell painted her portrait in February 1848 and later sold it to her longtime friend William Winston Seaton, editor and co-owner of the Washington, D.C., National Intelligencer. The portrait offers a glimpse of the aging Mrs. Madison, described by the artist in his diary as "a very Estimable lady kind & obliging, one of the Old School."

William S. Elwell (1810-1881)
Oil on canvas, 1848
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
NPG.90.52

Enlarged image

NPG Home Page | NPG Current Exhibitions
© 2002 Smithsonian Institution