Samuel Morse came to Washington in February 1825, an ambitious but frustrated 33-year-old artist. Before the discovery of telegraphy and the code that bears his name, he was nearly as well known for his paintings as for his father, the famed geographer Jedidiah Morse.
Or as the Marquis de Lafayette jested to his son Georges Washington, “this is Mr. Morse, the painter, the son of the geographer; he has come to Washington to take the topography of my face.”
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On January 3rd, 1825, Samuel F. B. Morse sent the first message in Morse code, successfully transmitting the phrase “What hath God wrought” from one telegraph station in Washington, D.C. to another in Baltimore, Maryland. But to many, the technology behind Morse’s invention was not considered an artistic medium. Wishing to prove otherwise, Morse began experimenting with the telegraph to create a portrait of the Marquis de Lafayette—the French military officer and American Revolutionary War hero—in 1825.
Using copper wires to add detail with a paintbrush technique, Morse created a realistic oil painting of the Marquis de Lafayette, nearly four feet tall. Scholars believe that the Marquis de Lafayette portrait was Morse’s first project in this new medium, as well as his first attempt at “electrical painting.” Connecting copper wires to the wire connecting the two telegraph stations, Morse made a “painting in motion” of the Marquis de Lafayette, adding details to the image remotely.
In the end, Morse was able to create a moving portrait of the Marquis de Lafayette that depicted the man in his later years, wearing a wood hunting coat and leaning on a staff with a hat tucked underneath his arm. The painting itself was significant as the Marquis de Lafayette had passed away in 1834, before Morse was able to ever show him the portrait in person.
Today, the original portrait is housed in the National Museum of American History, and is considered one of the earliest uses of telegraphy as an art form. Morse’s portrait of the Marquis de Lafayette has been hailed as a technological leap forward, and is seen as evidence that even a simple telegraph connection can be used to communicate visually. This early portrait was further proof that Samuel Morse was a pioneer in a burgeoning technology, and his work continues to be celebrated as a remarkable piece of art and scientific history.
