John Finley
Artist: Thomas Sully (American, 1783–1872)
Original Dimensions: 17" x 14"
Location: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
About Artwork: (1821) "According to the donor, the subject of this portrait was a counselor at law in Baltimore. A review of the Finley genealogy, however, suggests that he may have been the John McKnight Finley (1787–1850) who was a son of Ebenezer Finley, a prominent merchant of Baltimore. That John Finley was born in York County, Pennsylvania, and married Mary Van Lear. After serving in the War of 1812, he was a colonel in the Baltimore militia and a merchant in Baltimore. There is no record of his having been a lawyer. He died in New Orleans. A register kept by Sully records that John Finley was painted in 1821. This portrait, in the close-up format fashionable at the time, was given as a gift along with 94.23.1 and 94.23.3 to Henry Robinson of Baltimore. When it first came to the Museum, the picture was misattributed to Rembrandt Peale." - (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)

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