Gilbert Stuart
Born North Kingston, R.I., December 3, 1755.
Died Boston, Massachusetts, July 9, 1828.

Elisabeth Bender Greenough
(Mrs. David Greenough), about 1820
Oil on panel
23 1/2 x 17 3/4 x 1/2 in. (59.8 x 45.1 x 1.3 cm)
Gift of David Richardson, 1991.178
Provenance
Descended in the sitter's family to David Richardson (sitter's great-great grandson), who gave the portrait to the Worcester Art Museum. Probably Elisabeth Bender Greenough (1776–1866) to her son Henry Greenough (1807–1883); to his wife, Frances Boott Greenough (d. 1897);1 to her daughter Florence Greenough Thorndike (Mrs. John Larkin Thorndike) (1852–1940); to her daughter Alice Thorndike (1886–1969), who bequeathed the portrait to David Richardson, her mother's sister's grandson, her first cousin once removed.2

References
Wright 1963, 312, n. 2.

Wright 1972, 14, n. 15.

Notes
1. An old label on the back of the panel lists the owner as "Mrs. Henry Greenough/1737 Cambridge St./Cambridge."

2. Although it lists certain art objects, the will of Florence Thorndike does not specifically mention the Stuart portrait of Elisabeth Bender Greenough. Rather, it indicates that "all the rest of the . . . works of art" are to be divided equally between her two daughters, Olivia Simpkins (1879–1959), of Beverly, and Alice Thorndike, of Manchester. See will of Frances Greenough Thorndike, Essex County Probate Court no. 196617. The will of Alice Thorndike does not mention the portrait or David Richardson, but her heirs must have known it was intended for him. Will of Alice Thorndike, Essex County Probate Court no. 303075.