Extract from Henry Adams, History of the United States of America during the first administration of Thomas Jefferson
The contradictions in Jefferson’s character have always rendered it a fascinating study ... A few broad strokes of the brush would paint the portraits of all the early Presidents with this exception, and a few more strokes would answer for any member of their many cabinets; but Jefferson could be painted only touch by touch, with a fine pencil, and the perfection of the likeness depended upon the shifting and uncertain flicker of its semi-transparent shadows.
Published in Henry Adams, History of the United States of America during the first administration of Thomas
Jefferson (New York, 1889), 1:277.
Date Range
Date
January 1, 1889 to December 31, 1889
Collection
Quote Category