Born in Auburn, Massachusetts, Zedekiah Belknap became an itinerant limner whose specialty was life-size portraits. Likely without formal art training, he was a graduate of Dartmouth College in 1807, and then painted portraits in Vermont, New Hampshire, New York City and Massachusetts.

He had a stylized formula that his subjects found pleasing and that allowed him to paint fast. He used bright colors and paid close attention to details, yet had a minimum of apparent brush strokes. His faces usually had a red shadow. He painted on wood panels, scored with diagonal lines to emulate canvas. He completed about 170 portraits and ended his career in 1848 in Wethersfield, Connecticut.

Usually he did not sign his paintings, but when ...