American Art Collaborative

Hiram Powers lost his first child, James Gibson Powers, to a brain tumor when the boy was only four years old, soon after they arrived in Florence. One of the physicians at the child’s bedside was Dr. James G. Playfair from Scotland, who frequently cared for members of the Powers family. As a thank-you, Powers offered to model his portrait, and a replica of this bust was given to the doctor before he returned to England in 1845