Dr. Silvester Gardiner (1708-1786)

Artist

John Singleton Copley was a self-taught American artist born in 1738, and was one of the first professional painters in the British American colonies. Emulating the realistic portrait style seen in 18th-century British prints, Copley naturally developed his ability to paint realistically well before his adult years, with his first recorded painting sold at age 14. His work, focused mainly on the emerging American merchant and professional classes, gives a face to colonial Boston men and women at the forefront of the American Revolution, such as Paul Revere, for example.

John Singleton Copley, Paul Revere, 1768. Oil on canvas, 89.22 x 72.39 cm (35 1/8 x 28 1/2 in.) Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Gift of Joseph W. Revere, William B. Revere and Edward H. R. Revere, 1930, 30.781. Image courtesy of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, www.mfa.org