Thomas Smith's Self-Portrait: Image/Text as Artifact

Abstract

From its prominent position in the American galleries of the Worcester Art Museum and from the pages of countless books on American art, the strongly modeled countenance of Thomas Smith (Fig. 1) stares out at us. He is seated, half-length, in a studded leather chair close to the picture plane, with a curtain on one side and a window view of a naval battle on the other. His hand is on a skull, beneath which lies a poem signed with a “$” monogram. Despite the modest size of the canvas, in its quiet way the figure is a commanding presence.