WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (AP) — The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation says it is adding a newly acquired portrait painted by a New Orleans artist from the late 18th century to its collection.
The historic area says the oil-on-canvas portrait of Capt. William Preston Smith is the only painting by José Francisco Xavier de Salazar y Mendoza in the collection.
Officials say the foundation owns relatively few portraits of early American military officers and none from the time period centered around 1800.
The Mexican-born Salazar that emigrated to Spanish-held New Orleans in 1782 likely created the portrait shortly after Smith’s promotion in March 1800.
Colonial Williamsburg bought the painting from an art dealer through numerous donations.
The painting will be included in a new exhibition, “Painters and Paintings in the American South,” opening in March 2013.
