Jefferson biographers express astonishment that the apprenticeship with Wythe lasted five full years, 1762 - 67, at a time when almost no one studied law for more than two. Patrick Henry studied not more than six weeks,
or so at least he told Jefferson, and Wythe for one was so convinced of the inadequacy of Henry’s training he refused to sign his license. Jefferson’s years under Wythe, years of virtually uninterrupted reading, not only in the law but also in ancient classics, English literature, and general political philosophy, were not so much an apprenticeship for law as an apprenticeship for greatness.
Rembrandt Peale (1778—1860)
Oil on canvas; 75.6 x 64.5 x 3.2cm (29 3/4 x 25 3/8 x 1 1/4"). National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC.
Oil on canvas. 73.02 x 60.01 cm (28 3/4 x 23 5/8 in). Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA.
Oil on canvas; 71.5 inches x 53.25 inches (181.6 cm x 135.3 cm). U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
Oil on canvas; 137 1/2 x 120 1/2 in. (3.5 x 3 m). Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.
Oil on paper laid down on board; 30 x 25 in. (76.2 x 63.5 cm). Private collection.
Oil on canvas; 89.5 x 71.9cm (35 1/4 x 28 5/16"). National Portrait Gallery (Smithsonian), Washington, DC.
Oil on canvas; 89.5 x 71.8cm (35 1/4 x 28 1/4"). National Portrait Gallery (Smithsonian), Washington, DC.
Pen and black ink with ink wash, heightened with white opaque watercolor over traces of graphite on tan wove paper; 11 15/16 x 10 13/16 inches (
Thomas Jefferson: An Intimate History (1974)