A Financier Commissioned This Charming Oil Painting Of America's Female Supreme Court Justices

Associated PressAmerica's four female Supreme Court justices

The Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery has unveiled an oil painting of Supreme Court justices Sandra Day O'Connor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan.

"The Four Justices" was commissioned by financier Ian Cumming and his wife Annette, who loaned it to the Smithsonian for three years, according to The New York Daily News.

Nelson Shanks, the artist, sat with the four justices for a four-hour session that included laughing and joking, according to the Washington Post.

"They're tremendously good friends," Shanks told the Post. "They joke around a lot, and they respect each other a lot."

The Post article noted that Supreme Court newbies Sotomayor and Kagan had to stand for the session while Ginsburg and O'Connor (who's now retired) got to sit down.