GREAT HALL
Portraits of Captain and Mrs. Kensey Johns
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This pair of portraits is significant historically and artistically. The son of this couple succeeded George Read as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Delaware after Read’s death in 1798 and held the position for more than 30 years, then was Delaware’s Chancellor for two years, and was succeeded as Chancellor by his son.
They were painted by John Wollaston, an Englishman who helped bring the English Rococo style of portraiture to this side of the Atlantic. He traveled from England to the colonies in 1749 and remained until 1767, traveling throughout the Mid-Atlantic region painting portraits of wealthy residents and officials of cities along the way.
