English-American portrait painter Thomas Sully (1783-1872) is responsible for many portraits of 19th century University of Pennsylvania faculty and alumni, as well as portraits of presidents Thomas Jefferson, John Quincy Adams, and Andrew Jackson. Sully's 1845 portrait of President Andrew Jackson was later adapted for use on the U.S. twenty dollar bill. The subject of this portrait, Henry Vethake (1792-1866), served as the university's provost (1854-1859) after nearly twenty years as a professor of mathematics and ten years as vice provost.
