Portrait of Absalom Jones
Description
Raphaelle Peale was the first son of the American painter Charles Willson Peale and one of a large number of artist-children born to that branch of the Peale family. While Raphaelle was perhaps most famous for his still-life paintings, his portraits are highly regarded. The Reverend Absalom Jones was the prominent black minister of the St. Thomas African Episcopal Church in Philadelphia. Born a slave in Sussex, Delaware, Jones eventually won his freedom, was a founding member of the Free African Society, was ordained the first black priest of the Episcopal denomination, and helped to organize a school for black children.
Date 1810