Frederick Douglass

Object Details

Artist

Unidentified Artist

Sitter

Frederick Douglass, Feb 1818 - 20 Feb 1895

Exhibition Label

Born near Easton, Maryland

In the years following his escape from bondage in 1838, Frederick Douglass emerged as a powerful and persuasive spokesman for the cause of abolition. His effectiveness as an antislavery advocate was due in large measure to his firsthand experience with the evils of slavery and his extraordinary skill as an orator. His "glowing logic, biting irony, melting appeals, and electrifying eloquence" astonished and enthralled his audiences. As this ambrotype suggests, Douglass’s power was also rooted in the sheer impressiveness of his bearing, which abolitionist and activist Elizabeth Cady Stanton likened to that of "an African prince, majestic in his wrath."

Credit Line

National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; acquired through the generosity of an anonymous donor

1856

Object number

NPG.74.75

Restrictions & Rights

CC0

Type

Photograph

Medium

Quarter-plate ambrotype

Dimensions

Image/Sight: 8.8 × 6.7 cm (3 7/16 × 2 5/8")

Mat (brass): 10.8 × 8.3 cm (4 1/4 × 3 1/4")

Case open: 12 × 19.2 × 1.3 cm (4 3/4 × 7 9/16 × 1/2")

Case closed: 12 × 9.5 × 1.9 cm (4 3/4 × 3 3/4 × 3/4")

See more items in

National Portrait Gallery Collection

National Portrait Gallery

Topic

Interior

Personal Attribute\Facial Hair\Mustache

Personal Attribute\Facial Hair\Beard

Costume\Dress Accessory\Tie\Bowtie

Religious\Angel

Personal Attribute\Hairstyle\Afro

Cased object

Frederick Douglass: Male

Frederick Douglass: Literature\Writer

Frederick Douglass: Education\Educator\Lecturer

Frederick Douglass: Communications\Publisher\Newspaper

Frederick Douglass: Politics and Government\Diplomat\Minister

Frederick Douglass: Society and Social Change\Reformer\Abolitionist

Frederick Douglass: Society and Social Change\Enslaved person

Portrait

Record ID

npg_NPG.74.75

Metadata Usage (text)

CC0

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm4edbc86d9-ca8e-4512-b840-0fe22f2d299b