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John Trumbull
The Misses Mary and Hannah Murray
1806
oil
40 1/8 x 50 1/8 in.
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase made possible by an anonymous donor and Miss Emily Tuckerman
These elegant young sisters represent muses of the arts. Hannah, on the left, holds sheet music, while her sister Mary is engaged in drawing. The view of their family estate through the open window both enlivens the composition and alludes to their wealth and social status. The young ladies' father, a prosperous New York merchant, commissioned the double portrait.