48 × 30 in. (121.9 × 76.2 cm)
Framed: 53 3/4 × 36 in. (136.5 × 91.4 cm)
Accession Number
2015.121.000
Credit Line
Collection of the U.S. House of Representatives
Object Details
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida's 1989 election made her the first Hispanic-American woman in Congress. Of this portrait, made to mark her tenure chairing the Foreign Affairs Committee, Ros-Lehtinen mused that "I hope that people are able to see the map that’s behind me—behind my left shoulder—and I wanted to have a little bit of Cuba in the painting because to me, where I was born is not just a stamp on my passport. It really has helped to define who I am as a person."