Born in Auburn, Massachusetts, Zedekiah Belknap became an itinerant limner whose specialty was life-size portraits. Likely without formal art training, he was a graduate of Dartmouth College in 1807, and then painted portraits in Vermont, New Hampshire, New York City and Massachusetts.

He had a stylized formula that his subjects found pleasing and that allowed him to paint fast. He used bright colors and paid close attention to details, yet had a minimum of apparent brush strokes. His faces usually had a red shadow. He painted on wood panels, scored with diagonal lines to emulate canvas. He completed about 170 portraits and ended his career in 1848 in Wethersfield, Connecticut.