Page 7 - Alumni Horae: Vol. 94, No. 2 Winter 2014

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were expected to end the war that year.
While there is no documentary or phys-
ical evidence detailing whether the scroll
was a later addition, logic and Winant’s
prominence favor such a hypothesis. On
the other hand, stylistically, the comple-
mentary nature of the various curvatures
(scroll, paper, arm, necktie, and flag) sug-
gests the scroll was a planned element
from the onset. In all likelihood, the scroll
was coincident with rest of the painting
but the inscription was probably added or
completed after his term ended.
And what document was Winant hold-
ing? Perhaps it was the stirring text of the
address he delivered to the English Speaking
Union in late 1941, remarks Winant men-
tions explicitly in his memoir. The distinct-
ive features of the portrait – flag, banner,
document – all suggest that it was meant
to deliver a message about Winant, or at
least about how he conceived himself.
Concerned about his public image, he may
have been thinking about his future in
politics, particularly as a protégé of FDR.
Was the portrait done from life (as the
artist’s grandson believes) or from a photo-
graph? Unfortunately, Winant didn’t leave
a diary, but correspondence between the
artist and Winant that now resides in the
FDR Presidential Library offers some clues.
In early 1944 there is a reference to setting
up a time for Winant to sit for a portrait.
Later the same year there are references
to photographs being sent to Olive Pell
and their usefulness to her. Unfortu-
nately, Winant’s appointment calendar
does not mention any time for a portrait
sitting. What we do know is that Mrs. Pell
was in London in 1944 and 1945, that she
painted portraits of a large number of
members of the UN Commission on War
Crimes (her husband was at the time the
U.S. delegate to the commission), and that
the socially prominent Pells knew the
Winants. We also know that sometime,
perhaps around or before 1939, Winant’s
wife Constance commissioned a photo-
graphic portrait of Winant from Karsh of
Ottawa. This photograph is virtually identi-
cal to Winant’s pose in the oil painting.
Whether the portrait stems from a
photograph or was done from life (or a
combination of the two) remains tantaliz-
ingly inconclusive. What is certain is that
St. Paul’s is fortunate to possess this un-
usual and intriguing portrait of one of its
most distinguished alumni.
The portrait depicts
Winant in profile –
strangely reminiscent
of the famous Holbein
painting of Erasmus ,
– gazing intently
at a piece of paper.