CONCORD — The portrait of former Gov. Henry Wilder Keyes stands out among the other gubernatorial portraits on the second floor of the State House.

While all the other portraits are oil on canvas with ornate frames, Keyes' is a charcoal and pencil on paper portrait with a simple frame. And the man with the salt-and-pepper beard, balding hair and Romanesque nose does not resemble the picture of Keyes published in the state's Red Book when he was governor nor in Congressional portraits when he served in the U.S. Senate.

Also, Keyes appears to be wearing clothes from an earlier time in the portrait and not the clothes of the early 20th Century when he served as governor.

The Joint Legislative Historical Committee, which oversees the 207 paintings in the State House, will meet later this month to discuss whether the portrait is of Keyes or someone else.

Research has begun on whether the portrait is of Keyes, who served as governor from 1917-1919 and in the U.S. Senate from 1919 to 1937, or someone else, maybe his father, as some speculate.

Virginia Drew, public information administrator for the General Court, and Carey Johnson of the Department of Cultural Resources, are researching the portrait and will report to the committee when it meets.

Senate President Peter Bragdon said when he learned of the controversy he sent an email to the historical committee chairman Rep. Robert Rowe, R-Amherst, asking to put the issue on the agenda for the next meeting and involve the cultural resources office, which has taken an interest in the portrait.

“They're all pulling out their old pictures,” Bragdon noted.

The Keyes portrait was found in the basement of the Legislative Office Building in 2005 along with several standing chandeliers which used to hang in the state library.

The portrait had a plaque saying “Presented to the state by Henry W. Keyes.”

Former state curator Russell Bastedo said the portrait was given to the state the year before Keyes died.

“He looks different than he did when he was governor, but he gave it to the state just before he died,” Bastedo said. “He didn't age well.”

He said “we talked to members of his family to see if there were any other likenesses of him the family knew about and they said no.”

Bastedo said the pictures in the Red Book were done long before Keyes died, while the portrait was done closer to his death.

“He gave it to the state because there wasn't an official portrait, but that's speculation on my part,” Bastedo said.

Governors' official portraits hang in the governor's outer office and along the second floor hallway of the State House. They are traditionally done after the person leaves office and then given to the state, which means the Governor and Executive Council have to accept the gift.

But there is no record of the Keyes portrait being accepted by the Governor and Council or by anyone else in state government, according to Bragdon.

That leaves the fate of the portrait up to the Joint Legislative Historical Committee. By law the committee has the authority to purchase and restore portraits and memorials that hang on the walls of the State House. About $10,000 a year is appropriated to do the work.

Money from the fund was used to restore Keyes portrait after it was found in the Legislative Office Building basement in order to hang in the State House near the entrance to the House and Senate chambers in 2006.

Money was used about a year ago to reframe the portrait after it was damaged in a fall.

The committee, which consists of four senators and four representative, will now have to decide if the portrait is the real Henry W. Keyes.

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Garry Rayno may be reached at grayno@unionleader.com.