Portrait of Phillis Wheatley

Portrait of Phillis Wheatley
Artist	Scipio Moorhead
Year	1773

Portrait of Phillis Wheatley is an engraving by Scipio Moorhead. It is in a private collection. The painting was used as the frontispiece for poet Phillis Wheatley's poetry collection Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, first published in 1773. Wheatley was the United States' first professional African-American woman poet and the first African-American woman whose writings were published. She is also the third woman in the United States, regardless of ethnicity, to have her written work published. The painting is also the major, recognized work of Moorhead, the first significant African American painter in the country. It is unknown if an original painting exists, however, copies of the engraving reside in the National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian Institution and the Library of Congress.

The painting depicts a young African American woman, Phillis Wheatley, sitting at a desk. She has a thoughtful look on her face, with her left hand poised against her chin, as if thinking about what she will write next with the quill in right hand. Her right hand sits atop a piece of paper. On the desk, is also ink and a small book. She wears a bonnet and a apron over her dress.

Phillis Wheatley failed to have her book published in the United States, therefore, she had her book published in London. To verify that she was indeed, African American, the publisher asked that she provide a portrait for the work. Wheatley commissioned Scipio Moorhead to create the portrait. She knew of Moorhead because he was the slave of Reverend John Moorhead in Boston, where she used to live.

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