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Payne Fund, Commonwealth Cultural Preservation Trust. Despite everything we have learned about Washington-his treatment of Native Americans, the fact that he was an enslaver-Stuart’s rosy depiction of him and the unfinished canvas’s great empty expanse has always struck a hopeful, lyrical chord with me. Stuart never completed the painting he kept it in his possession for the rest of his life, using it as a model for the many replicas he created over the years.
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(The paintings emerged from the mayhem unscathed other works of art, including a Chinese scroll, were reportedly damaged.) Saul Loeb/Agence France-Presse-Getty ImagesĪfter last Wednesday’s sea of images, I woke up Thursday thinking about another artwork from our nation’s early history: Gilbert Stuart’s 1796 portrait of George Washington. The contrast between the militant, jeering mobs and Trumbull’s scenes of calm and civility-of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, of British Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis’s surrender at Yorktown-was searing. One particularly striking photograph captured a group storming past John Trumbull’s grand history paintings, made in the early 19th century, in the Capitol Rotunda. Rioters rampaging through the United States Capitol, rioters destroying offices, rioters terrorizing journalists and officials, rioters freely exiting the building as police hold open the doors: January 6 was filled with painful and frightening images. Museum of Fine Arts Boston Main navigation The Heritage Fund for a Diverse Collection.Request Images for Study and Personal Use.Furniture and Frame Conservation Laboratory.
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Peale went on to create several detailed variations of the portrait, including one of Washington in full military uniform that currently hangs in the Oval Office and the present example. This original painting was purchased by Congress in 1832 for $2,000 and currently hangs in the Old Senate Chamber. His resulting work, Patriae Pater (Latin for “Father of Our Country”), completed in 1824, depicts Washington through an oval window, and is considered by many second only to Gilbert Stuart’s iconic Athenaeum portrait of Washington.
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In 1822, after a trip to Paris where he was influenced by the Neoclassical style, Peale moved to New York City, where he embarked on an attempt to paint what he hoped would become the “standard likeness” of Washington one that would encapsulate the first President’s “mild, thoughtful & dignified, yet firm and energetic Countenance” through the study of the famed Washington portraits of John Trumbull, Gilbert Stuart and his own father. Although young Rembrandt was not entirely satisfied with the resulting portrait of the aging Washington, it was well-received and made his debut as a portraitist. In 1795, 17-year-old Rembrandt Peale was invited by his father, famed American painter Charles Willson Peale, to accompany him to a portrait sitting with President George Washington. Rembrandt Peale’s famed painted portrait of of George Washington, “George Washington, Patriae Pater”, considered by many second only to Gilbert Stuart’s iconic Athenaeum portrait of the first president and variations of which hang in the Oval Office and Old Senate Chamber. “George Washington, Patriae Pater” Rembrandt Peale Original Oil Painting.
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