Matthew Harris Jouett
American, Kentucky, 1788 ‑ 1827
Portrait of Sarah Low Norton (1790 ‑ 1856), about 1820 ‑ 1825
Oil on canvas
38 3/4 × 30 9/16 in. (98.4 × 77.6 cm.)
Gift of Robert L. Boone Jr., Charles N. Boone, Elizabeth B. Shmock, and Sarah B. Burke in memory
of their parents Elizabeth Sharpe Boone and Robert Lee Boone  1971.6.2

What’s in a Pose?
This portrait of Sarah Low Norton was painted as a companion to her husband’s portrait on the left. Sarah’s pose, with her arm resting against the back of her chair, mirrors the pose of her husband and suggests that the portraits were intended to hang side by side. A deeply pious woman, Sarah was known for her great humor, her taste in beautiful things, and for being a voracious reader—a fact alluded to by the book she holds in this portrait.