Massachusetts SJC Hopes To Identify Mystery Judge In Portrait

click to expand

BOSTON (CBS) – Court officials are looking to figure out the identity of the unidentified judge depicted in an oil painting that hangs in the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial courthouse.

The painting at the John Adams Courthouse shows a justice believed to have sat on the bench sometime from 1780-1820.

The portrait of an unknown judge that hands in the SJC courthouse. (Image Credit: Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court)

The SJC says it has "periodically" made efforts to identify the subject of the painting since at least 2005 when re-hanging portraits.

Anyone who can provide the SJC with "reliable authentication" will be invited to stand with Chief Justice Ralph Gants as he places a plaque with the painting.