Baron Friedrich Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt, 1769-1859

In May 1859, the St. Louis Mercantile Library commissioned Bingham to paint the celebrated German scientist, explorer, and natural philosopher, Baron Friedrich Heinrich von Humboldt. Born in Berlin, von Humboldt explored South America, Russia, and Siberia and gained worldwide renown in the study of earth sciences and ecology. His book, Kosmos, which surveyed astronomy and earth sciences, contributed to the popularization of science. Von Humboldt died shortly after Bingham received the commission for the portrait, which was completed in 1860 from a study of secondary sources. Originally a life-size, full-length canvas, the painting was damaged in a fall from its frame and later trimmed. The remaining fragment was acquired by Mrs. Ruth Rollins Westfall, of Columbia, who presented it to the State Historical Society of Missouri in 1952.