Gilbert Stuart
Samuel Salisbury, 1810–11

Technical Notes
The support is a single piece of tangentially cut mahogany. The panel surface is lightly scored to resemble a twill-weave pattern. The panel has three narrow vertical splits that extend down from the top edge. A heavy mahogany cradle has been attached to the back of the panel, resulting in corresponding deformations in the panel. It appears as though the back of the panel was sanded prior to the cradle being attached.

The thinly applied ground layer is cool gray and does not obscure the twill pattern. The ground was applied in a horizontal motion, leaving behind visible brushstrokes. Drips of the ground layer can be seen on the edges of the panel, indicating that the panel has not been cut down in size.

A loose sketch was first executed in thin reddish brown paint for some of the basic shapes of the face, and thin black paint was used for some of the curls in the wig. The sitter's face was built up with thin, overlapping strokes. Some of the cool gray ground layer shows through in the shadow areas of the face. Some of the red and pink glazes in the face were added after the wig was painted, as evidenced by the overlapping red glaze on the right side of the wig. There is some low impasto in the white paint of the cravat.

For the sitter's coat, the shadows and black outlines were painted first. This was followed by a broad application of dark gray for the larger areas of the coat. The buttons' black outlines were added after the underlying paint layers of the coat had partially dried. The sitter's proper left hand is painted on top of the black paint of the coat.

The red and brown paint used for the chair overlaps the figure and background, suggesting that the chair was among the last elements completed. The semitransparent red paint used for the chair has faded, causing the opaque red highlights to appear as floating brushstrokes on a faded dull gray-brown background. Slight overcleaning is evident in the glazes on the face.

The paint layer has a minimal amount of branched drying cracks that are most marked in the reds and browns of the chair. The surface is also marked by a fine overall network of age cracks with microscopic apertures. Some old losses to the paint layer can be found along the splits in the panels and along a scratch in the paint on the end of the sitter's nose.

The varnish, consisting of a brush coat of damar and a spray coat of Larapol, was applied in 1987. It is moderately thick and applied in an even, transparent layer.