+Portrait of an elderly gentleman, early 19th C., oil on canvas. A plaque attached to the 20th C. frame now with this portrait identifies the sitter as James Madison and the artist as Purviance. Research for this report has revealed that the sitter does not resemble other known images of James Madison who is repeatedly portrayed in lifetime portraits with a hairline that has a pronounced widow''s peak, and often wears a powdered wig. Research did not uncover an artist named Purviance although a prominent family with the surname Purviance moved in Presidential circles. John Henry Purviance served as the secretary and interpreter to the James Monroe mission to France, 1794-1796, and secretary of the American legation in London, 1804-1810; This portrait has been relined although the early stretchers were kept; it is in a 20th C. frame. ss: 23 1/2 x 18 1/2 [Provenance: Typed label verso has provenance of purchase in 1930s by O. P. and M. J. Van Sweringen; then purchased at a 1930s auction by Thomas Jones; to his son Thomas Jones; to his business partner Myron Gelbach; to his son and current owner.]