Artist: Alban Jasper Conant

He was elected Representative to the Third Congress, but resigned in 1792 before commencement of the congressional term to move to Kentucky. He served in the U.S. House and Senate, resigning in August 1805 to accept President Jefferson's offer of the post of Attorney General. He held the position until his death at Lexington, Kentucky, on December 14, 1806.

About the Artist: Alban Jasper Conant (1821-1915)

Conant was born in Chelsea, Vermont, in 1821 and died in 1915. He became well known for his portraits of leading statesmen while visiting in Washington, D. C., in the 1880's. He painted, among others, Lincoln, Sherman, Sumpter and Edward Bates, the twenty-sixth Attorney General. It was during this time (1863) that the Breckinridge painting was commissioned. It is obvious, since Breckinridge had been deceased for 63 years, that Conant was copying from an earlier picture.

Conant was also an archeologist, an author, and founder of the Western Academy of Art in St. Louis, Missouri.