Rembrandt Peale (1778-1860) George Washington

Rembrandt Peale (1778-1860)
Born on Washington’s birthday during the American Revolution, Rembrandt Peale (1778-1860) felt destined to create the ultimate portrait of George Washington which he believed would be the “standard likeness” of the nation’s first president. In 1823, he drew upon his previous endeavors, as well as those by John Trumbull, Gilbert Stuart, his father, and Jean-Antoine Houdon.
Rembrandt depicts Washington with a strong brow, Roman nose and pronounced jaw, characteristics that recall Houdon’s version. Rembrandt created a composite image of the American hero; idealized to communicate a figure that transcends the confines of mortality. He is framed by an illusionistic trompe l’oeil stone masonry window, reminiscent of Roman funerary sculpture; another influence of neoclassicism and a nod to the Roman Republic from which the ideals of the country were rooted. Rembrandt paints Washington against a background of clouds. By not placing him in a specific place and time, he creates an ethereal image of the man and elevates him to an almost godly status.
Washington sat for Rembrandt Peale three times, each for three hours in the autumn of 1795. The experience was documented by both men in their letters. While the President expresses a concern that the burdens of his responsibilities for the young Republic would be revealed in the likeness Peale was rendering, the artist expresses the fact that this was an opportunity of a lifetime for a young portrait painter.
Rembrandt Peale recalled, “It was in the autumn of 1795 that, at my father’s request, Washington consented to sit to me, and the hour he appointed was seven o’clock in the morning. I was up before daylight putting everything in the best condition for the sitting with which I was to be honored, but before the hour arrived became so agitated that I could scarcely mix my colors, and was concerned that my anxiety would overpower me and that I should fail in my purpose unless my father would agree to take a canvas alongside me and thus give me an assurance that the sittings would not be unprofitable, by affording a double chance for a likeness...”