Florida Governors' Portraits
Florida Governors' Portraits
Beginning with Governor Francis Fleming in the 1890s, every chief executive of Florida has had an official portrait made and hung in the state Capitol building. Over the years, an interesting variety of artistic styles has accumulated. In the mid-1950s, the state legislature commissioned Tallahassee artist Claribel B. Jett (1908–96) to create oil-enhanced photographs of all Florida governors whose portraits were not yet in the state collection. In 1986, the legislature transferred custody of the portrait collection to the Museum of Florida History.
The Florida Historic Capitol Museum exhibits a set of reproductions of the portraits in its recreated Governor’s Suite exhibit. Reproductions of the ten most recent governors’ portraits appear in the first-floor hallway of the Capitol, beginning with Claude Kirk (1967–1971). In keeping with the tradition of official governors’ portraits, the current governor, Ron DeSantis, will not commission his portrait until the end of his term. The original portraits are preserved in the collection of the Museum of Florida History.
