Gustavus Hesselius
Painter and organ builder, Gustavus Hesselius left his home in Sweden in 1711 for Wilmington, Delaware, where he lived until 1717 before moving to Philadelphia. In 1721, he moved to Prince George's County, Maryland where he made his living as a portrait painter. J. Hall Pleasants has said that Hesselius became "America's earliest portrait painter of note." Hesselius received the first recorded public art commission in the American colonies. For the commission, he painted The Last Supper for the St. Barnabus Church in Prince George's County. He also painted a Crucifixion. In 1735, Hesselius returned to Philadelphia where he would live the remainder of his life. Hesselius also worked as an organ builder, having built an organ for the Moravian Church in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in 1746.
