A Portrait for President’s Day

Charles Wilson Peale. George Washington. ca. 1779-81. Oil on canvas. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

The original commission for this portrait of George Washington was made in January 1779 by the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania when they passed a resolution to engage Charles Wilson Peale as the artist. It was intended to honor Washington and be displayed in their Council Chamber.

Peale traveled to the battlefields of Princeton and Trenton to do research for the background of the painting. After completing the original work which is in the collection of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Peale painted numerous copies. The version pictured here (in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art New York), is historically significant because experts theorize that Martha Washington herself commissioned it.

Supporting this idea is the fact that this portrait is the only one of all the versions in which Washington wears his blue moiré sash and elegant state sword. The sword, a precious heirloom, was kept at Mount Vernon and the painting descended in the Washington family. The background in this version represents the battlefield at Trenton where Washington achieved his greatest victory and the Revolutionary War reached a turning point. All the other versions show the Princeton battlefield.

The finished work is monumental in size measuring 95” x 61-3/4”. Unlike many portraits of Washington, this one is considered a very good likeness. A fine example of American Neo-classicism, this portrait provides a heroic view of America's first president, his easy confidence and his integrity.

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