Thomas Sully depicts Pocahontas after her absorption into English culture and before the fateful trip to England from which she did not return. Pocahontas presents herself as a person of remarkable refinement and grace. Conscious of brewing sectionalism, Sully devised an image that would please Virginians, and he donated this portrait to the Virginia Historical Society, perhaps as a way of winning new patrons in Pocahontas's native state.
Learn about the life of Pocahontas in this video: