Portrait of Mrs. John Stevens (Judith Sargent, later Mrs. John Murray)

Although the canvas is undated, Copley’s portrait of the eighteen-year-old Judith Sargent is most likely a wedding portrait in the tradition of likenesses of young women painted to mark the occasion of their betrothals. In eighteenth-century high society, marriage to a socially prominent and financially successful mate represented the fulfillment of womanly ambitions, an achievement surpassed only by the subsequent births that announced the consummation of a successful marriage partnership. Judith’s lavender silk turban draped with strands of pearls is a fashionable hint of sophisticated exoticism, but the corresponding looseness of her dress may have another meaning. Like the sitters in several other works by Copley known to be wedding portraits, Judith is uncorseted; under her dark-blue overgown she is draped in shimmering folds that highlight her feminine contours. Like the natural scenery that surrounds her, the roses gathered in a basket on the sitter’s lap also evoke the promise of a fruitful marriage. A traditional emblem of love, the rose is a cultivated flower that, like children, requires care; thus it also symbolizes the faithful service of the ideal housewife and helpmate.

The promise symbolically represented in Copley’s portrait of the betrothed Judith Sargent was unfulfilled. Her 1769 marriage to John Stevens, a prominent Gloucester merchant closely tied to the Sargent family, was apparently arranged for her; no children were born to the couple in their eighteen years of marriage, during which Stevens was often at sea for long periods. In 1788 the widowed Judith was married, this time for love, to Reverend John Murray, and in 1791 a daughter was born to them. With Murray Judith shared a passionate dedication to the Universalist religious movement, which countenanced the equality of the sexes.

As befits a wedding portrait, this likeness makes no direct reference to the precocious intellectualism that distinguished Judith Sargent, who became one of the leading women writers and feminists of her day. Schooled with her brother Winthrop as he prepared to enter Harvard, Judith began writing poetry and essays at an early age. Later, burdened with her first husband’s debts, she turned to literature to support herself. She published her work in various forms and became the first American playwright, male or female, to have a script performed. In Copley’s portrait only the young Judith’s serious, intense gaze and expansive, highlighted forehead hint at her future career as one of young America’s most illustrious literary women.

New Faces, New Places: Recent Additions to the Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, October 14–December 31, 2000.

Collection Cameo, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, April 2001.

(Re)Presenting Women, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, October 16, 2001–January 13, 2002.

D'une colonie à une collection: le Musée d'Art Américain Giverny fête ses dix ans (From a Colony to a Collection: Celebrating the Tenth Anniversary of the Musée d'Art Américain Giverny), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, March 30–June 16, 2002.

A Place on the Avenue: Terra Museum of American Art Celebrates 15 Years in Chicago, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, November 16, 2002–February 16, 2003.

Deux collections en regard: oeuvres de la Terra Foundation for the Arts et du Detroit Institute of Arts (Side by Side: Works from the Terra Foundation for the Arts and the Detroit Institute of Arts), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, March 2-June 1, 2003. [exh. cat.]

Visages de l'Amérique: de George Washington à Marilyn Monroe (Faces of America: From George Washington to Marilyn Monroe), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–October 31, 2004. [exh. cat.]

Expanded Galleries of American Art with Loans from the Terra Foundation for American Art Collection, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, April 15, 2005–March 2012.

A Will of Their Own: Judith Murray and Women of Achievement in the Early Republic, National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC and Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizers). Venue: National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC, April 20, 2012–September 2, 2013.

Galleries of American Art with Loans from the Terra Foundation for American Art Collection,  The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, February 2014–August 2019.

 Our Souls are by Nature Equal to Yours: The Life of Judith Sargent Murray  Cape Ann Museum and Terra Foundation for American Art (organizers). Venue: Cape Ann Museum, Gloucester, MA, September 28, 2019–December 31, 2021.

 Galleries of American Art with Loans from the Terra Foundation for American Art Collection. The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, April 2022–present.

Perkins, Augustus Thorndike. Sketch of the Life and a List of Some of the Works of John Singleton Copley. Boston, Massachusetts, 1873. Text p. 88 (as Mrs. John Murray).

Bayley, Frank W. Sketch of the Life and a List of Some of the Works of John Singleton Copley. Boston, Massachusetts: The Garden Press, 1910. Text p. 67 (as Mrs. John Murray).

Bayley, F. W. Life and Works of John Singleton Copley, Founded on the Work of Augustus Thorndike Perkins. Boston, Massachusetts: The Taylor Press, 1915. pp. 183 (as Mrs. John Murray).

Bayley, F. W. Five Colonial Artists of New England. Portland, New Hampshire, 1929. Ill. p. 245.

Bolton, Theodore and H. L. Binsse. “John Singleton Copley: Appraised as an Artist in relation to his Contemporaries with Checklist of Portraits in Oil.” Antiquarian 15 (December 1930): 76–83, 116. Text p. 116 (as Mrs. John Murray, nee Judith Sargent).

Babson, J. J. Notes and Additions to the History of Gloucester, Part First: Early Settlers. Gloucester, Massachusetts: M.V.B. Perley, 1876. Text p. 79.

The Portraits of Epes Sargent, his Family and Descendants. Gloucester, Massachusetts: Sargent-Murray-Gilman House, 1920. No. 9.

Portraits of Epes and Ann Sargent, Children of William Sargent and Their Descendants in the Sargent-Murray-Gilman House, Gloucester, Massachusetts, 1921. Text p. 2, no. 11 (as Judith Sargent).

Sargent, Emma Worcester and Charles Sprague Sargent. Epes Sargent of Gloucester and His Descendants. Boston, Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1923. Text p. 53.

Portraits of Epes and Ann Sargent, Children of William Sargent and Their Descendants and connections in the Judith Sargent House, Gloucester, Massachusetts, 1924.

Parker, Barbara Neville and Anne Bolling Wheeler. John Singleton Copley: American Portraits in Oil, Pastel and Miniature, with Biographical Sketches. Boston, Massachusetts: Museum of Fine Arts, 1938. Text pp. 174–75, ill. pl. 85 (as Judith Sargent (Mrs. John Stevens) (Mrs. John Murray)).

Prown, Jules David. John Singleton Copley. Vol. 1, In America 1738–1774. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1966. Text pp. 85, 229; ill. no. 310 (black & white as Mrs. John Stevens).

Dunlop, Marianne. Judith Sargent Murray (1751–1820): Champion of Social Justice. Gloucester, Massachusetts: Sargent-Murray-Gilman-Hough House, 1993. Ill. cover (black & white).

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Rebora, Carrie and Paul Staiti et al. John Singleton Copley in America. (exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art). New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1995. Text pp. 60, 229 (as Mrs. John Stevens).

Smith, Bonnie Hurd. From Gloucester to Philadelphia in 1790: Observations, Anecdotes, and Thoughts from the 18th century Letters of Judith Sargent Murray. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Judith Sargent Murray Society, 1998. Ill. cover.

Skemp, Sheila L. Judith Sargent Murray: A Brief Biography with Documents. Boston, Massachusetts: Bedford Books, 1998. Ill. cover (black & white).

Boasberg, Leonard W. "A Visit to 'America's Metropolis'." The Philadelphia Inquirer Magazine (July 1, 1999). Ill. (detail).

Smith, Bonnie Hurd. Forming a New Era in Female History: Three Essays by Judith Sargent Murray. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Judith Sargent Murray Society, 1999. Ill. cover (black & white).

Smith, Bonnie Hurd. The Reaper: A Series of Essays by Judith Sargent Murray. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Judith Sargent Murray Society, 1999. Ill. cover (black & white).

Smith, Bonnie Hurd. The Repository: A Series of Essays by Judith Sargent Murray. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Judith Sargent Murray Society, 1999. Ill. cover (black & white).

Smith, Bonnie Hurd. A Universal Catechism by Judith Sargent Stevens (Murray) . Cambridge, Massachusetts: Judith Sargent Murray Society, 1999. Ill. p. 1 (black & white).

Smith, Bonnie Hurd. Salem Women's Heritage Trail. Salem, Massachusetts: Salem Chamber of Commerce, 2000. Ill. p. 28 (black & white).

The Magazine Antiques 158, no. 5 (November 2000): 572–73. Text p. 572; ill. p. 573 (color).

Johnson, Wendy Dasler. “Cultural Rhetorics of Women’s Corsets.” Rhetoric Review 20, no. 3/4 (Autumn 2001): 203–233. Text p. 219; ill. p. 221 (black & white).

Walker, Andrew. Portrait of Mrs. John Stevens (Judith Sargent, later Mrs. John Murray), John Singleton Copley. Collection Cameo sheet, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, April 2001. Ill. (color).

Johnson, Wendy Dasler. “Cultural Rhetorics of Women’s Corsets.” Rhetoric Review 20, no. 3/4 (Autumn 2001): 203–233. Text p. 219; ill. p. 221 (black & white).

Bourguignon, Katherine M. and Elizabeth Kennedy. An American Point of View: The Daniel J. Terra Collection. Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2002. Text pp. 42, 193; ill. pp. 4 (color), 43 (color), 193 (black & white).

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Side by Side: Works from the Terra Foundation for the Arts and the Detroit Institute of the Arts. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2003. Text pp. 3, 22 (checklist); ill. p. 2 (color).

Deux collections en regard: oeuvres de la Terra Foundation for the Arts et du Detroit Institute of Arts. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2003. Text pp. 3, 22 (checklist); ill. p. 2 (color).

Fischer, David Hackett. Washington's Crossing. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 2004. Text p. 155; ill. p. 155 (black & white).

Kennedy, Elizabeth and Sophie Lévy. Faces of America: Portraits of the Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, 1770–1940. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2004. Text pp. 11–12, 22-24, 31 (checklist); ill. p. 37 (color).

Kennedy, Elizabeth and Sophie Lévy. Visages de l'Amérique: le portrait dans la collection de la Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1770–1940. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2004. Text pp. 11–12, 22-24, 31 (checklist); ill. p. 37 (color).

Berkin, Carol. Revolutionary Mothers: Women in the Struggle for America's Independence. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005. Ill. p.149 (black & white detail).

Smith, Bonnie Hurd. The Letters I Left Behind: Judith Sargent Murray Papers, Letter Book 10. Salem, Massachusetts: Judith Sargent Murray Society, 2005. Text p. 3; ill. cover (color detail).

Lévy, Sophie, et al. Twarze Ameryki: Portrety z kolekcji Terra Foundation for American Art, 1770–1940 (Faces of America: Portraits from the Collection of the Terra Foundation for American Art, 1770–1940).  (exh. cat. International Cutural Center). Cracow, Poland: International Cultural Center, 2006. Text pp.14–17, ill. p. 14 (color).

Kelley, Mary. Learning to Stand and Speak: Women, Education, and Public Life in America's Republic. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press for the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, Williamsburg, Virginia, 2006. Ill. p. 197, fig. 19 (black & white).

Smith, Bonnie Hurd. "Mingling Souls Upon Paper": An Eighteenth-Century Love Story.  Salem, Massachusetts: Judith Sargent Murray Society, 2007. Text p. 2; ill. cover (color detail).

Higgins, Ellen. "The Sargent House, Beauport, and Hammond Castle: A Trio of National Treasures Lets Us See How the Other Half Lived." Northshore Magazine 8, no. 3 (June/July 2008): 60–62.  Ill. p. 60 (color).

Skemp, Sheila L. First Lady of Letters. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2009.  Ill. cover (color detail).

Dykeman, Therese Boos. Contributions by Women to Early American Philosophy: Anne Bradstreet, Mercy Otis Warren, and Judith Sargent Murray. Lewiston, New York: The Edwin Mellen Press, 2009. Ill. after p. 141, fig. 5 (color).

Klepp, Susan E. Revolutionary Conceptions: Women, Fertility, and Family Limitation in America, 1760–1820. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press for the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, Williamsburg, Virginia, 2009. Text p. 155, ill. p. 156, pl. 13 (black & white).

Rupp, Rebecca. “Old Roses.” Early American Life (June 2009): 44–51. Ill. p. 45 (color).

Salm, Betsy Krieg. Women's Painted Furniture 1790–1830: American Schoolgirl Art. Lebanon, New Hampshire: University Press of New England, 2010. Text p. 111; ill. p. 111, fig. 4.6 (color).

Fischer, David Hackett. Fairness and Freedom: A History of Two Open Societies, New Zealand and the United States. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012. Text p. 583; ill. p. 232 (black & white).

Murphy, Kevin M. American Encounters:  Anglo-American portraiture in an era of revolution. (exh. cat., Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art). Bentonville, Arkansas: Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, 2013. Text p. 44; ill. p. 45, fig. 22 (color).

Bourguignon, Katherine M., and Peter John Brownlee, eds. Conversations with the Collection: A Terra Foundation Collection Handbook. Chicago: Terra Foundation for American Art, 2018. Text pp. 28, 29; ill. pp. 29, detail pp. 30-31 (color).

Olson, Roberta J.M. Artist in Exile: The Visual Diary of Baroness Hyde de Neuville. (exh. cat., New-York Historical Society Museum & Library). Lewes: Giles, 2019. Text pp. 71–72; ill. p. 70 (color).

Layton, Thomas N. The “Other” Dixwells: Commerce and Conscience in an American Family. Germantown, MD: The Society for Historical Archaeology, 2021. Ill. p. 49 (color).