Original Matthew Brady Albumen of Gen. R.E. Lee Sitting on His Richmond Home’s Back Porch on April 16, 1865

Original Matthew Brady Albumen of Gen. R.E. Lee Sitting on His Richmond Home’s Back Porch on April 16, 1865 – This iconic image of Gen. Lee was taken by famed Civil War photographer, Matthew Brady, shortly after Lee returned to his Richmond house after he signed a peace agreement at Appomattox on April 9, 1865. In the image, Gen. Lee is wearing his Confederate officer’s frock coat and holds his slouch hat in his right hand; the General is sitting in a mid-Victorian armchair, taken from the inside of the house. Lee’s Richmond home, was located at 707 East Franklin Street, just a block west of the Virginia state capitol. Having been ousted by Federal troop occupation of Arlington, Lee and family had rented this Richmond house; the house, built in 1844, remains standing today. Remembering taking the image of Lee, Brady recalled in 1891, “It was supposed that after his defeat it would be preposterous to ask him to sit, but I thought that to be the time for the historical picture. He allowed me to come to his house and photograph him on his back porch in several situations. Of course, I had known him since the Mexican War when he was upon Gen. Scott’s staff, and my request was not as from an intruder”. Brady would ultimately take six photographs during this session, also on the back porch of the same rented house – Four of the photographs showed General Lee alone, while two included his oldest son, Major General George Washington Custis Lee, and his military aide, Colonel Walter H. Taylor. Significantly, these images were the last depicting Gen. Lee wearing his uniform and hat, adorned with his military buttons, rank and insignia, as Federal fiat would mandate removal of these Confederate Army elements shortly after these images were taken. Printed in the margin below this image is “M. B. Brady & Co.”, “Washington, D.C.”, and with “Entered according to Act of Congress 1866”. The image remains in excellent condition with some small area of foxing or minor water browning in the upper section of the pasteboard matting; it is housed in an original, period, oval frame.

Measurements: Frame – 15″ x 12.5″; Image – 8″ x 6.25″