This portrait of Elijah Arms (1712-1802) was painted in Deerfield, Massachusetts, by William Jennys (active 1793-1807), an itinerant artist who worked in New York and Connecticut before coming to Deerfield around 1801. The portrait has characteristics found in other works of Jennys: painted spandrels (roughly-shaped triangles between the tops of arches and rectangular walls) define the corners and the sitter’s face is brightly illuminated (casting distinct nose shadows and making shiny reflections). Over one hundred portraits by Jennys have been identified. Elijah Arms, who married Naomi Lyman of Northampton in 1774, resided in the settlement of Mill River south of Deerfield’s village street.