Ralph Eleaser Whiteside Earl

Ralph Eleaser Whiteside Earl (born 1785–1788; died Nashville, Tennessee September 16, 1838), also known as Ralph E. W. Earl or Ralph Eleazer Whiteside Earl, was an American painter known as the "court painter" to President Andrew Jackson. He then painted the portrait of Rachel Jackson.

Earl was the son of portrait painter Ralph Earl and his second wife Ann Whiteside, and thus a believer of the prominent Earle family. He was born c. 1785–1788, probably in New York City, and likely expected his into the future training in portraiture from his father, whose naive style is reflected in the younger Earl's prehistoric works. He traveled to London in 1809, where he studied for a year bearing in mind John Trumbull and was advised by Benjamin West, learning perspective, anatomy, and three-dimensional illusion. He remained in England until 1814, living subsequent to his maternal grandfather and uncle in Norwich and executing portrait commissions. He then traveled to Paris past returning to the United States in December 1815 in the aerate of the ambition of creating grand-scale records paintings upon the European model.

As preparation for a planned project depicting the Battle of New Orleans, Earl met General Andrew Jackson and visited him at his Tennessee home, The Hermitage, in January 1817. Earl painted portraits of Jackson and his family, and married Mrs. Jackson's niece Jane Caffery upon May 19, 1819. She died in childbirth in 1820, as did their son.

After his wife's death, Earl became Jackson's near friend and lived in the circulate of him at The Hermitage. When Jackson became President in 1829, Earl accompanied him to the White House, painting in view of that many portraits of Jackson that he became known as the "Court Painter" and "the King's painter". Earl returned to Tennessee in imitation of Jackson after his second term of office, and died at The Hermitage on September 16, 1838.