Picture of the day

A Boy with a Flying Squirrel is a 1765 painting by the American-born painter John Singleton Copley. It depicts Copley's half-brother Henry Pelham with a pet flying squirrel, a creature commonly found in colonial American portraits as a symbol of the sitter's refinement. Painted while Copley was a Boston-based portraitist aspiring to be recognized by his European contemporaries, the work was taken to London for a 1766 exhibition, where it was met with overall praise from artists like Joshua Reynolds, who nonetheless criticized Copley's minuteness. Later historians and critics assessed the painting as a pivotal work in both Copley's career and the history of American art. It has previously been exhibited at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and is now in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.Painting credit: John Singleton Copley