The Lost Museum Archive
Portraits of P.T. Barnum
These portraits show Barnum in 1851, the year he sponsored Jenny Lind's tour, in a 1860 carte de visite taken by Mathew Brady, and in 1864 in a publicity photo. This final portrait features Ernestine de Faiber, a dancer who performed in Barnum's lecture hall. She posed for a series of souvenir photographs at the Brady studio and in one image a leering Barnum appeared in the stage prop.
Source: Robert Gould Shaw Collection, Harvard Theatre Collection
Source: Frederick Hill Meserve Collection National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Source: Frederick Hill Meserve Collection National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution