Art, literature & history
Elizabeth Shewell West and Her Son, Raphael
c. 1770
- Dating
- Approximate date range
- Held at
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- Framed: 88 x 87.5 x 9 cm (34 5/8 x 34 7/16 x 3 9/16 in.); Unframed: 66.5 x 66.3 cm (26 3/16 x 26 1/8 in.)
- Collection no.
- 1927.393
- Attribution
- By the artist
- Image rights
- CC0 1.0License details
The Charles W. Harkness Gift. Cleveland Museum of Art. CC0; compressed study reproduction.
Collection: The Cleveland Museum of Art
About this artwork
Elizabeth Shewell West and Her Son, Raphael — Benjamin West. c. 1770.
Medium: oil on canvas. Dimensions: Framed: 88 x 87.5 x 9 cm (34 5/8 x 34 7/16 x 3 9/16 in.); Unframed: 66.5 x 66.3 cm (26 3/16 x 26 1/8 in.).
Collection record: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland. Museum connection according to this source; current display unverified.
West was the first American artist to study in Italy, where he spent three years before permanently settling in London. He so admired the artistic ideals of the Italian Renaissance master Raphael that he named his eldest son after him, and he imitated Raphael’s celebrated Madonna of the Chair when composing this tender double portrait of his wife and child.
Source: official collection record. Metadata selected and normalized by Artline from the source export, accessed 10 September 2026; no museum endorsement. Reproduction rights are separate.
Location checked Sep 10, 2026. This does not indicate whether the work is on display.