Nathaniel Rogers (August 1, 1787 – December 6, 1844) was an American painter from Long Island known as the preeminent miniature portrait painter in New York City.
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Early life
Rogers was born in Bridgehampton, New York on August 1, 1788. He was the eldest son of a farmer, John T. Rogers, and Sarah Brown, the daughter of a Presbyterian minister. Around the age of sixteen, he began to apprentice with a shipbuilder.
Career
During his apprenticeship, he sustained a serious leg wound that rendered him unable to continue working. During his recovery, he taught himself to draw and paint and took up miniature painting. He eventually moved to New York City and studied with Uriah Brown and P. Howell. He briefly worked as a school teacher, but upon working with fellow artist Joseph Wood, he went on his own, eventually becoming one of the most successful artists in miniature painting through the 1830s. He painted miniatures of some of the most prominent people of his time, including Philip Livingston, Cornelia Paterson Van Rensselaer (the wife of Patroon Stephen Van Rensselaer and daughter of Gov. William Paterson), and Chancellor Robert Livingston. While Rogers painted several full-size portraits, his miniatures remain what his is known for.