About the Cover

Elizabeth Shewell West and Her Son, Raphael, c. 1770

Benjamin West (American, 1738-1820)

Oil on canvas, Framed: 88.00 x 87.50 x 9.00 cm (34 5/8 x 34 7/16 x 3 1/2 inches); Unframed: 66.50 x 66.30 cm (26 1/8 x 26 1/16 inches). The Charles W. Harkness Gift 1927.393

Image Credit: Cleveland Museum of Art

West was the first American artist to study in Italy, where he spent three years before permanently settling in London. He so admired the artistic ideals of the Italian Renaissance master Raphael that he named his eldest son after him, and he imitated Raphael’s celebrated Madonna of the Chair when composing this tender double portrait of his wife and child.