Can't remember the face, but the name is familiar

20th-century artist corrects 19th-century mix-up that produced wrong portrait of Brown's first chancellor

He was the first chancellor of Brown, a chief justice and four-time governor of the state. He even signed the Declaration of Independence, but after Stephen Hopkins died in 1785 no one was too sure what the ol' guy looked like. In fact, for nearly two centuries he was mistaken as someone else -  a mistake that was only corrected about 20 years ago when a new painting of the colonial statesmen was hung in the State House.

Now John Hagen, the Massachusetts artist responsible for correcting the 200-year-old faux pas and revealing Hopkins' true likeness, has put the finishing touches on a second Hopkins portrait (left) that will hang in the Corporation Room of University Hall, said Robert Emlen, University curator.

The mix-up began when "Signers of the Declaration of Independence," the famous painting by 18th-century artist John Trumbull showing all of the signers of the historic document, mistakenly identified Hopkins as John Dickinson, the representative from Pennsylvania, explains Emlen.

Trumbell painted the work between 1788 and 1795. Working without the aid of photographs, he had to seek out each person to sketch their likeness and then plug it into the painting. When Trumbull was ready for Hopkins, the Rhode Islander was dead. (Hopkins died in 1785.) It is believed that a relative of Hopkins became the stand-in for Trumbull's original painting, says Emlen.

Apparently, the misidentification occurred 25 years after the original painting was made. In 1819, Congress approved funding for a large engraving of the painting for the Capitol Rotunda. At that time, Trumbull mistakenly concluded that Dickinson - a Quaker pictured wearing a Quaker's hat - was Hopkins, who also was a Quaker, explains Emlen. "It's a mistake easily made, since the painting contained 47 individuals."

The case of mistaken identity was perpetuated in the 1940s when Rhode Island unveiled its portrait of what it thought was the Rhode Island governor. But the portrait used the Trumbull painting as its source, so the fellow pictured in the Rhode Island painting was the Pennsylvanian.

Trumbull's sketch of Hopkins' relative remained undiscovered for nearly 200 years, when an art historian spotted the discrepancy in the 1970s. Trumbull's original pencil drawing was archived at Fordham University, and is what Hagen used as the basis for his first portrait of Hopkins.

The portrait for Brown is similar in composition to the one hanging in the State House, but with subtle changes that make reference to Brown, says Hagen. For instance, the new portrait features the Manning Chair, which belonged to Hopkins and is used by Brown presidents at Commencement, and a view of University Hall. Hopkins' hand rests on a copy of the University's Charter.

"I've also made slight changes in Hopkins' chin and jaw line. The new painting more closely resembles the original sketch made by Trumbull," says Hagen.

A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, Hagen has studios in Vineyard Haven, Mass., and Newport. In addition to portraits, he also paints landscapes.

He also played a courtroom sketch artist in the movie "Amistad." "For about two seconds, my hand can be seen in the movie. I guess my hand is more famous than my face," he explains. However, Hagen was able to garner more than two seconds of fame from the experience. "During the filming, I was able to sketch several of the actors and scenes from the Steven Spielberg production, and I've been able to exhibit the charcoal drawings in Bristol and Providence."