Paul Revere vs. Pocahontas

The main difference between the John Singleton Copley’s portrait of Paul Revere and Simon van de Passe’s 1616 engraving is that Copley’s portrait displays the subject as a real being. In Paul Revere’s portrait, you get the sense that he was a real person with thoughts and feelings. He makes the viewer wonder what Paul Revere was thinking about. In Pocahontas’s portrait, you get no sense of who she was. However, you do get the sense of who the British wanted her to be. She is removed from her native environment and culture. She became an image that the British settlers could use to their own advantage when interacting with Native Americans in the future.