Portrait of a Family

American 19th Century

National Gallery of Art

The image shows a family portrait featuring four people from the waist up. The man and woman are seated with a child on each of their laps. The man, positioned on the left of the image, has a short mustache and neatly combed dark hair, wearing a dark suit with a white shirt underneath. The woman, on the right, has her hair styled up and is dressed in a patterned, dark dress with a high collar and buttons running down the front. The two children are wearing white, lace-detailed gowns; the child on the left has lighter hair and rests on the man's knee, while the child on the right, with slightly longer hair, is on the woman's knee. The background consists of a plain gray surface. There is a visible red cloth in the lower left and right corners of the image.