c. 1815
Oil on canvas, 21 1/4 x 18 3/4”
Unsigned

Art was never Harlan Page’s passion. Rather, this Coventry, Connecticut, house-joiner and schoolteacher worked tirelessly to convert everyone he came into contact with, first in his home state and then at the American Tract Society in New York City.

Page is identified with only two portraits. This one seems a visual representation of the Second Great Awakening, the dynamic 19th-century religious revival that set his soul on fire. “A glow of heavenly ardor burned in our brother’s countenance,” wrote his biographer. Is this a self-portrait?