Exhibition Label
Born Stockholm, Sweden
Long a favorite in the opera houses of Europe, soprano Jenny Lind created a sensation when showman and impresario P. T. Barnum brought her to the United States in 1850 for a series of concert engagements. Whipped into a frenzy of expectation by Barnum's masterful publicity campaign, the nation readily succumbed to Lindomania. Enthusiastic crowds mobbed the Swedish Nightingale at every stop throughout her tour, and concertgoers vied for tickets to her enormously popular performances.
In April 1851 Jenny Lind traveled by steamboat to Cincinnati, where she presented five concerts to sold-out crowds. While in that city, Lind visited the Melodeon Gallery of local daguerreotypist and painter Thomas Faris, where she posed for this portrait.
