' Susan Walker Morse ( The Muse ) Samuel F.B.Morse ( American 1791 - 1872 ) Oil on canvas circa 1836 - 37

Samuel F.B.Morse , inventor of the telegraph , eventually abandoned his pursuits of painting in favour of science and technology . This portrait of the artists daughter , Susan Walker Morse was completed through the years of experimentation and patent of 'Morse's Telegraph '( 1835 - 37 ) While the fields of technology and art may seem unrelated , Morse's work as an artist is what led him to become an inventor . In 1825 Morse traveled to Washington to complete a portrait , and while he was in the midst of his work , he received a telegram by horse messenger stating " Your dear wife is convalescent " Morse left immediately , but by the time he reached his family in New Haven , his wife had already been buried . Heartbroken that he had not known of her illness , Morse was driven to create a reliable method of long-distance communication . A short time later he invented the telegraph and Morse code would become the primary language of telegraphy in the world , and is still today the standard for rhythmic transmission of data . Here Susan Morse sits with a sketchbook in her lap , gazing into the distance in contemplation . She married in 1839 and moved with her husband to his sugar plantation in Puerto Rico . Susan regularly returned to the United States to see her father , who had been left a widower when Susan was just six . She grew more unhappy with her husband and life abroad , and in 1885 set sail for New York , intending to return permanently . Unfortunately she never made it , and was lost at sea . This image immortalizes her as a young and thoughtful woman engaged in a creative pursuit , long before her unhappy marriage and lonely life away from home.