Portrait of Gov. Deval PatrickGov. Deval Patrick faced a beaming crowd and an insurgent group of young protestors late Sunday afternoon as one of his enduring gifts to the state, his portrait, was unveiled at the bottom of the Grand Staircase.

Simmie Knox's painting depicts Patrick, flanked by the flags of the United States and Massachusetts, standing in a suit with his right hand resting on a bare desk and his left hand at his side.

The lobby space on the second floor was thronged to the walls with supporters. Behind a velvet rope near the base of the stairs, political luminaries mingled, including Speaker Robert DeLeo, Treasurer Steven Grossman and former Gov. Bill Weld.

Patrick thanked Weld in particular for his "confidential guidance" and acknowledged the help of activists who "will scold constructively and not so constructively if that's what you think it takes."

Before Patrick was able to get out more than a few words, a group of protesters began chanting in unison, "It is our duty to fight for our freedom; it is our duty to win," and the governor greeted the outburst amicably.

"Yes it is.... Amen," Patrick responded amid the chanting. He said, "What this administration has been about is precisely what these young people and others are expressing here. And it's about seeing the dignity in every living soul, so thank you for being here."

"Out of the house and into the streets," the protesters chanted, fists raised, on their way out. Standing in front of a State House driveway after the speeches were over, the group of young people referenced the young black man slain by a police officer in Ferguson, Mo., chanting, "Turn up; don't turn down; we do this for Mike Brown."

"The point that those folks were making just a minute ago about the relationship between law enforcement and black boys in particular in our communities, that's our problem - all of our problem, and a worthy concern," Patrick continued after the group left.

The state's first black governor was interrupted with more laudatory praise through the rest of his speech, saying, "I love you right back" after someone in the audience shouted, "We love you, Deval."

As the portrait stood still draped in blue cloth, Patrick and his wife Diane descended the stairs at 5:13 p.m., trailed by their older daughter Sarah carrying her one-and-a-half-year-old son Gianluca Morghese.

Patrick greeted Weld, Barbara Grossman, and then reached through the crowd to greet U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Angela Menino, the widow of the late mayor, before making his way around to other attendees.

Patrick's 2006 running mate and former lieutenant governor Tim Murray was in the inner horseshoe of officialdom at the event as was Treasurer-elect Deborah Goldberg and Secretary of State William Galvin.

Longtime political aide John Walsh created some rhetorical distance between himself and the State House, where Patrick has held the Corner Office for the past eight years.

"I'm not really from this place," Walsh said, calling the building that holds the House and Senate and other constitutional offices "sort of a peculiar little place."

Patrick's portrait is the first to feature both the state and national flag since former Gov. Ed King chose a similar arrangement. When Knox's work was unveiled Sunday, former Patrick political strategist Larry Carpman wiped away at his eyes.

The $45,000 work was funded by private donors, according to Walsh, who said Patrick selected the artist. Knox, who works with oil on linen, has painted official portraits of President Bill Clinton, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the late Justice Thurgood Marshall.

Walsh said Patrick had clerked for Judge Stephen Reinhardt, and Reinhardt had his portrait painted by Knox.

On Monday morning, Patrick's portrait had joined those of other recent governor's in the lobby to the Executive Suite. Each governor traditionally selects one former governor's portrait for the interior office, and Patrick selected Gov. John Andrew, who helped organize the first black regiment in the Civil War.

Among others at the unveiling were Reps. James Cantwell (D-Marshfield) and Russell Holmes (D-Mattapan), Boston city councilors Tito Jackson and Charles Yancey, Governor's Councilors Robert Jubinville, Oliver Cipollini and Marilyn Devaney, Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera, Public Safety Secretary Andrea Cabral, Suffolk County Sheriff Steven Tompkins, and former state representative Charlotte Golar Richie.

Editor's note: This articles was amended to reflect a correction issued by SHNS. The $45,000 cost of the painting was funded by private donors not Patrick's political action committee.