Edward Randolph’s Portrait by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Short summary

5 seconds

For years a painting had hung in the Governor’s House, blackened by time, and impossible to know what it depicted. Alice Wayne restored it to its original appearance on a pivotal day in New England.

1 minute

The narrator goes to the former Governor’s House, where he meets a tavern regular. He tells a story about the former occupants of the premises.

In one of the rooms of the Governor’s House, a painting has hung for many years. Its colors had darkened with the passage of time, and no detail could be discerned on the canvas. Governors changed, and the picture hung in the same place. It remained under Hutchinson.

The governor had a niece who had a passion for painting, Alice Vane. She asked her uncle what the painting was about. He told her that the canvas depicted the man who had built the house, Edward Randolph. His reign was famous for betraying his people.

Alice returned the painting to its original appearance, lest his uncle follow Edward Radcliffe’s example and let British troops into the city. Hutchinson disobeyed his niece; he repeated Redcliffe’s mistakes.