The Artisan of Colonial Boston: The Life and Legacy of Joseph Badger In the bustling, salt-aired streets of eighteenth-century Boston, where the intellectual fervor of the Enlightenment began to stir amidst colonial tradition, there lived a man whose brush captured the very soul of a burgeoning nation. Joseph Badger (c. 1707–1765) was far more than a mere recorder of faces; he was a bridge between the practical grit of colonial craftsmanship and the refined elegance of high portraiture. Born in Charlestown to Stephen Badger, a skilled tailor, and Mercy Kettell, his early life was rooted in t…