Object Details
- Artist
- Rembrandt Peale, 22 Feb 1778 - 3 Oct 1860
- Copy after
- Charles Willson Peale, 15 Apr 1741 - 22 Feb 1827
- Sitter
- John Witherspoon, 5 Feb 1723 - 15 Nov 1794
- Exhibition Label
- Born Gifford, Scotland
- The Reverend John Witherspoon, president of the College of New Jersey at Princeton (1768–94), was the only clergyman to sign the Declaration of Independence. Like other Presbyterian ministers, Witherspoon abhorred violence but reluctantly conceded that revolution was necessary as the last resort against tyranny. In June 1776, as one of New Jersey’s delegates to the Second Continental Congress, Witherspoon rose from his seat in response to another member’s claim that the country was not ready for independence. On the contrary, Witherspoon declared, the country was “not only ripe for the measure, but in danger of becoming rotten for the want of it.”
- Twelve members of the Continental Congress were former students of Witherspoon. Through his college instruction and preaching, he would continue to have an outsize influence on the country’s future leaders, counting among his pupils a president, a vice-president, twenty-eight U.S. senators, and forty-nine members of the House of Representatives.
- Nacido en Gifford, Escocia
- El reverendo John Witherspoon, presidente del College of New Jersey en Princeton (1768–94), fue el único clérigo que firmó la Declaración de Independencia. Como otros ministros presbiterianos, Witherspoon aborrecía la violencia, pero admitió, aunque a disgusto, que la revolución era necesaria como último recurso contra la tiranía. En junio de 1776, siendo delegado de Nueva Jersey en el Segundo Congreso Continental, Witherspoon se levantó de su asiento para contradecir a otro miembro que afirmaba que el país no estaba listo para la independencia. El país, dijo Witherspoon, “no solo está maduro para esta medida, sino en peligro de podrirse a falta de ella”.
- Doce miembros del Congreso Continental eran antiguos estudiantes de Witherspoon. A través de sus cursos en la universidad y sus prédicas, seguiría ejerciendo una enorme influencia en los futuros líderes del país, contando entre sus discípulos a un presidente y un vicepresidente, así como 28 senadores y 49 representantes.
- Provenance
- Kathryn P. Matthews [Mrs. Samuel Matthews], Bethesda, Md.; purchase/gift 1991 NPG
- Credit Line
- National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; partial gift of Mrs. Samuel Matthews
- 1794
- Object number
- NPG.91.81
- Restrictions & Rights
- CC0
- Type
- Painting
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- Stretcher: 76.2 x 64.8 x 3.8cm (30 x 25 1/2 x 1 1/2")
- Frame: 83.8 x 71.8 x 5.1cm (33 x 28 1/4 x 2")
- See more items in
- National Portrait Gallery Collection
- Exhibition
- Out of Many: Portraits from 1600 to 1900
- On View
- NPG, East Gallery 142
- National Portrait Gallery
- Topic
- Printed Material\Book
- Architecture\Column
- John Witherspoon: Male
- John Witherspoon: Religion and Spirituality\Clergy
- John Witherspoon: Politics and Government\Government official\Congressman\Continental congressman
- John Witherspoon: Politics and Government\Statesman\Colonial statesman\Signer of Declaration
- John Witherspoon: Arts and Culture\Education and Scholarship\Administrator\College administrator\President
- Portrait
- Record ID
- npg_NPG.91.81
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm4954248bf-8ba6-4d3d-bce9-d0684de78238
