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Zachary Taylor

Zachary Taylor
Artist
James Walker, 1819 - 1889
Sitter
Zachary Taylor, 24 Nov 1784 - 9 Jul 1850
Type
Painting
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
Stretcher: 78.1 x 63.5cm (30 3/4 x 25")
Frame: 105.4 x 92.7 x 10.2cm (41 1/2 x 36 1/2 x 4")
Topic
Costume\Headgear\Military
Exterior\Landscape
Nature & Environment\Plant
Printed Material\Document\Scroll
Weapon\Sword
Nature & Environment\Animal\Horse
Zachary Taylor: Male
Zachary Taylor: Politics and Government\President of US
Zachary Taylor: Military and Intelligence\Army\Officer\War of 1812
Zachary Taylor: Military and Intelligence\Army\Officer\Mexican War
Zachary Taylor: Congressional Gold Medal
Portrait
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Eric Martin Wunsch
Restrictions & Rights
CC0
Object number
NPG.72.26
Exhibition Label
Born Orange County, Virginia
During his forty-year military career, Zachary Taylor fought in several armed conflicts against Native Americans, including the Black Hawk War (1832) and the Second Seminole War (1835–42). Following his successful command of U.S. troops during the Mexican-American War (1846–48), popular prints and songs bolstered Taylor’s renown as the “heroof B uena Vista.” This painting shows him astride his trusty warhorse, “Old Whitey,” before a backdrop of Mexican mountains and palm trees.
The U.S. victory against Mexico helped sweep Taylor into the presidency, but controversies arising from the war monopolized his brief term in office (1849–50). Disagreement over expanding slavery into the new western lands acquired from Mexico bitterly divided Congress and intensified the threat of Southern secession. Although Taylor held hundreds of enslaved laborers on his plantations in Mississippi and Louisiana, he prioritized preserving the Union over protecting slavery and promoted legislative compromises to avert a sectional crisis.
Nacido en Orange County, Virginia
En sus 40 años de carrera militar, Zachary Taylor tomó parte en varios conflictos armados contra los nativos americanos, entre ellos la Guerra de Halcón Negro (1832) y la Segunda Guerra Seminola (1835–42). Luego de su éxito militar en la Guerra Mexicano-Estadounidense (1846–48), su fama como el “héroe de Buena Vista” se divulgó mediante estampas y canciones. Aquí aparece montado en su fiel caballo de batalla “Old Whitey”, con un fondo de montañas y palmas mexicanas.
La victoria de EE.UU. contra México impulsó a Taylor hasta la presidencia, pero varias polémicas derivadas de la guerra acapararon su corto tiempo en el cargo (1849–50). La disputa sobre la expansión de la esclavitud a las nuevas tierras del oeste ganadas a México dividió agriamente al Congreso e intensificó la amenaza de secesión sureña. Aunque Taylor tenía cientos de esclavos en sus plantaciones de Misisipi y Luisiana, su meta era preserver la Unión más que proteger la esclavitud, y promovió acuerdos legislativos para evitar una crisis separatista.
Provenance
Eric Martin Wunsch; gift through (Bernard Danenberg Galleries)1972 to NPG.
Data Source
National Portrait Gallery
Exhibition
Out of Many: Portraits from 1600 to 1900
On View
NPG, East Gallery 122