Skip to main content

Joseph Marion Hernandez

Joseph Marion Hernandez
Artist
Auguste Edouart, 1788 - 1861
Sitter
Joseph Marion Hernandez, 1793 - 1857
Date
1841
Type
Silhouette
Medium
Ink wash, chalk and cut paper on paper
Dimensions
Image/Sheet: 27.9 × 21.1 cm (11 × 8 5/16")
Mat (Verified): 55.9 × 40.6 cm (22 × 16")
Frame: 47.9 × 37.8 × 3.2 cm (18 7/8 × 14 7/8 × 1 1/4")
Topic
Interior
Silhouette\Cut-out
Costume\Headgear\Hat\Top hat
Joseph Marion Hernandez: Male
Joseph Marion Hernandez: Natural Resource Occupations\Agriculturist\Farmer
Joseph Marion Hernandez: Military and Intelligence\Army\Officer\Brigadier General
Joseph Marion Hernandez: Politics and Government\US Congressman\Florida
Portrait
Place
United States\District of Columbia\Washington
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Robert L. McNeil, Jr.
Restrictions & Rights
CC0
Object number
S/NPG.91.126.59.B
Exhibition Label
As silhouettes portrayed men and women from all walks of life, we find some portraits of surprising firsts, such as this image of Joseph Marion Hernández, who was Florida’s first delegate to the House of Representatives and the first Hispanic member of Congress. Hernández, born in Florida when it was under Spanish rule, later became an American citizen. His three plantations produced rice, cotton, oranges, and sugar using slave labor. After his unsuccessful run for the U.S. Senate in 1845, he moved to Cuba to manage his family’s sugar estate.
Although Auguste Edouart notes that Hernández was a brigadier general in the Florida militia, he depicts him in the clothing of a gentleman. Edouart used white chalk to create volume and detail in Hernández’s clothes, even highlighting the fabric’s wrinkles.
Dado que en las siluetas quedaron representados hombres y mujeres de todas las condiciones sociales, entre esos retratos encontramos primi- cias sorprendentes, como esta imagen de Joseph Marion Hernández, primer delegado por Florida a la Cámara de Representantes y primer miembro hispano del Congreso. Hernández nació en Florida aún bajo el dominio español y más tarde obtuvo la ciudadanía estadounidense. Tenía tres plantaciones que producían arroz, algodón, naranjas y azúcar con mano de obra esclava. Luego de un fracasado intento por llegar al Senado en 1845, se radicó en Cuba para manejar la hacienda azucarera de su familia.
Aunque Auguste Edouart apunta que Hernández era brigadier general en la milicia de Florida, lo retrata en atuendo de caballero. Utiliza tiza blanca para crear volúmenes y detalles en la ropa, resalt- ando incluso las arrugas.
Data Source
National Portrait Gallery
Location
Currently not on view