![Francis Alexander - Ralph Wheelock’s Farm [c.1822]](http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3836/15275236302_e53e9102e5_o.jpg)
The son of a farmer, Francis Alexander was born in Killingly, Connecticut, on February 3, 1800. During the winters of his eighteenth and nineteenth years he earned a small sum teaching in the local school and at the age of twenty used it to seek instruction in New York City. He studied for several weeks with Alexander Robertson, but was forced to return home for lack of funds. Between 1825 and 1831 Alexander's portraits commanded increasingly higher prices. By the time he left Boston for his European tour of 1830-1831, he had already painted such famous sitters as Noah Webster and President Andrew Johnson. Most of Alexander's time abroad was spent in Italy and included several months in Rome during which he lived with Thomas Cole. It was in Florence in 1832 that Alexander met Lucia Swett, whom he married four years later. He died in Rome on March 27, 1880.
[National Gallery of Art, Washington - Oil on canvas, 64.1 x 122.2 cm]