Little is known about the subject of this portrait, ElkanMorgenstern. The designation of “rabbi” is affixed to his name inthe title of the work, but there are no records of a rabbiMorgenstern at the time. We do know that he was born in Inowroclaw,in Posen, in 1796. He immigrated to the United States in 1850,sailing from Hmaburg with his four children; we know nothing of theirmother. They lived for a time in New York, and eventually all settledin San Francisco. The date of Morgenstern’s death likewise has beenlost.