Bradley may have emigrated from Ireland in 1826. By 1836 he had established himself as a portraitist in New York, where he attracted sitters eager for his marked attention to likeness and detail. For this portrait of two-year-old Emma Homan (1842–1908), Bradley posed her standing next to a potted rosebush and playing with her cat, which scales the plant and extends a paw to bat Emma’s finger.
Inspired by a true story, Invincible recounts the last 48 hours in the life of Marc-Antoine Bernier, a 14-year-old boy on a desperate quest for freedom.