Arnold, Judge Peleg (1751-1820)
Role: Chief Justice, Rhode Island Supreme CourtDates: 1795-1809, 1810-1812
Portrait Location: John Hay Library 300
Artist: Steere, Arnold (1792-1832)
Portrait Date: 1815
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 35 3/4
Framed Dimensions: 41 1/2
Brown Portrait Number: 69
Brown Historical Property Number: 344
Peleg Arnold was born in Smithfield, Rhode Island. He became a lawyer and figured prominently in the political life of the northern part of the state. He was the first delegate to represent Rhode Island in the Continental Congress in 1787. Arnold was also a founding member of the Providence Society for the Abolition of Slavery.
Artist Arnold Steere was also born in Smithfield. He was a portrait painter active during his life in Rhode Island and Philadelphia. His portrait of Arnold was executed in 1815. Steere's self-portrait (BP 199), showing him at work with his painter's easel and palette, hangs in Brown's English Department.