Oil on canvas; 34 ½ x 27 ¼ in. (90.2 x 71.3 cm). Boston Athenæum, Boston, MA.
When Adams commissioned a portrait of Thomas Jefferson by Brown in 1786, Jefferson reciprocated, and commissioned this one for himself. Although Brown had already completed a portrait of Adams in 1785, Jefferson wanted a fresh image, which entailed Adams sitting once again for the artist.
But the peculiar character of [Aaron] Burr’s correspondence goes beyond his preoccupation with haste and secrecy. Burr never developed any ideas about constitutionalism or governmental policy in the way the other Revolutionary statesmen did, because, in truth, he was not much concerned about such matters. If he had any idea about the new federal Constitution of 1787, he left no record of it.