Home >> Lost Photographs of History >> Lost Photos of History – Thomas Jefferson and James Madison at Monticello

Lost Photographs of History – James Madison and Thomas Jefferson

4th U.S. president and the shortest, James Madison stands beside the “Sage of Monticello,” 3rd U.S. president Thomas Jefferson all decked out in top hats. Had photography existed at that time; perhaps this is how a photo of Madison and Jefferson might have looked.

The photo is a Photoshop composition using the faces of Madison and Jefferson taken from their life masks. The life masks were cast from plaster molds of their heads in 1825 by J. I. Browere.

Inspired by “Thomas Jefferson And His Family Paper Dolls in Full Color” by Tom Tierney, I wanted to see what Jefferson and Madison looked like with top hats.

Shadows were added to their faces  to give the impression of a real top hats placed upon their heads.  Jefferson’s eyes were changed slightly to give the appearance of looking directly into the camera.

The close-up view  reveals a slight blur. I added blur since the suit Jefferson is wearing was blurred in the original image. The photo was also sepia-toned to look aged.