Side by Side: Two Images of Mary Lyon

Mary Lyon (1797-1849; founder of Mount Holyoke College) was famously opposed to the creation of likenesses of herself, resulting in the relatively few images that exist today. These two images of Lyon, however, painted by Joseph Goodhue Chandler (American, 1813-1884), are on view together for the first time, side by side in the Warbeke Gallery at the Art Museum.

The image on the left is an earlier painting by the artist created in the 1830s, while the image on the right portrays an older version of Lyon in the 1840s. The painting on the left was displayed in the library until it was conserved in 2004 with funds donated by the Cincinnati Mount Holyoke Club. The library portrait was an earlier version by Chandler, painted from life--unlike the later painting, which is believed to have been completed after her death in 1849.