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Dont be surprised if outgoing Attorney General Eric Holder looks a bit youthful in his official portrait, set to be unveiled Friday afternoon.

Thats because Holder, who apparently adheres to the Boy Scouts motto be prepared, began planning for the portrait in April 2009, three months after taking over the job. And the portrait these things run around $40,000 or so was completed about a year later. (Unclear where its been waiting these past few years.)

This seems a bit unusual, but its not unprecedented.

At the Justice Department, the time between departure and unveiling is shorter than, say, at the State Department. Portrait unveilings for former secretaries of state Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice and Madeleine Albright have occurred six to eight years after their departures. Hillary Clinton hasnt had hers hung yet.

But Holder did the honors for his predecessor Michael Mukasey about nine months after Mukasey left office, and former attorney general Alberto Gonzales unveiled predecessor John Ashcrofts painting just shy of two years after he left.

Holders portrait is going to be unveiled while hes still attorney general, since nominee Loretta Lynch, though approved Thursday by the Senate Judiciary Committee, isnt likely to be confirmed by the full Senate for a couple of weeks.

Like Holder, Janet Reno, the second-longest serving attorney general, was still in office though with only five days to go before the Clinton administration ended when her portrait was unveiled.

Justice folks were suspiciously hush-hush this week about whos going to be doing the presentation. Naturally, it turns out to be President Obama.

(We should note that Congress, on a year-to-year basis, started banning the use of federal funds for these portraits. But there is no permanent ban.)

In the tank

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In the Loop: In the Loop: Portrait of (a younger) Eric Holder