Isaac Hull Captain of the USS Constitution

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Living with Isaac Hull

Conservation renews paintings of founding fathers by American artist Gilbert Stuart:

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background of my search for Isaac Hull

Okay, first of all, a little background. 28 years ago I was given a portrait of a naval officer, which I basically chose to ignore because no one seemed to know who he was, however, I did hang the painting in my dining room. One night I heard a crash and ran downstairs to discover that it had fallen on my crystal ware, breaking almost every piece. I was so mad that I put it in the basement, near the furnace, where it remained for 26 years. And, I ignored it until two months ago when, looking for the window screens, it again fell, but this time on top of me and chipped my front tooth.

I decided then and there that this painting was trying to tell me something. So, I dragged it upstairs, wiped it down with a soft wet cloth and behold, Captain Isaac Hull stared back at me, wondering why he'd been ignored again for all those years. That's when I began my search for this young Isaac Hull, not the older, fatter Captain so beautifully painted by Gilbert Stuart in 1807.

So far I've discovered that there are no known images of the young, handsome Isaac, only later images after he became the hero of the early years of the War of 1812. His action while commanding the USS Constitution vs: the British ship, HMS Guerriere earned him accolades, prizes and tributes from all corners.

I'm in search of this young, handsome hero who sat for this portrait that you see on my profile page and the man whom his wife, Anna Hart, at age 11 fell in love with while on a school day trip to the USS Constitution.