Jackson Portrait by Jules Lion (opposite p. 14 in extra-illustrated Life)

Was the creator of this Jackson portrait an African American free man of color or not?

What we do know: this lithograph was created by Jules Lion. Born in Paris, in the mid-1830s Jules Lion immigrated to New Orleans, where the 1837 city directory listed him as a free man of color and as a painter and lithographer. However, recent scholarship (see further reading below) has called this racial identification into question as in other records Lion was listed as a white man.

Different versions of this image appear frequently throughout the extra illustrated A Brief and Impartial History of the Life and Actions of Andrew Jackson. All of them originate from three images created by Jules Lion, perhaps in 1840, when Jackson visited New Orleans. Lion's portrait of Jackson appeared in 1840 Paris publication, Galerie des Contemporains Illustres. Jackson here is depicted during his military days looking considerably younger than he presumably did when Lion made his portraits.

Further Reading:
Sara M. Picard, "Racing Jules Lion," Louisiana History (2017): 5-37.