Life Portraits of George Washington

George Washington in the Uniform of a Colonel in the Virginia militia

• Charles Willson Peale, American, (1741-1827)
• 1772
• Commissioned by Martha Washington
• Washington-Custis-Lee Collection, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Virginia

Inclination having yielded to opportunity, I am not, contrary to all expectation, under the hands of Mr. Peale; but in so grave - so sullen a mood - and now and then under the influence of Morpheus, when some critical strokes are making, that I fancy the skill of this Gentleman's Pencil, will be hard put to it, in describing to the World the manner of man I am.

- George Washington to Rev. Jonathan Boucher, May 21, 1772

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Miniature of George Washington

• Charles Willson Peale, American, (1741-1827)
• 1776
• Commissioned by Martha Washington
• Mount Vernon Ladies' Association. Purchase, 1920. Catalog No. W-460

In order to paint this miniature at the request of Mrs. Washington, Peale traveled to the location of the Continental Army in northern New Jersey near present-day New Market. Undoubtedly preoccupied with the war, Peale recorded that Washington had "promised to sit for his miniature, but at this Time he had not had the leisure," Eventually, Washington sat for the artist on September 28 in Pennsylvania.

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George Washington

• Pierre Eugene du Simitere, Swiss, (1737-1784)
• 1779
• Engraving, Reproduced in Paris
• Princeton University Library, Princeton, New Jersey. Gift of Grenville Kane.

Drawn as a part of a series of American statesmen and military figures, Simitere sent his drawings to France for engraving. In 1785, Washington wrote:

[du Simitere]...drew many good likenesses from the life, and got them engraved at Paris for sale.

- Washington to William Gordon, March 8, 1785

• William Dunlap, American, (1766-1839)
• 1783
• Sketch of General Washington
• Pastel on Paper
• The United States Senate. Gift of Anne Middleton Ellis in Memory of Her Husband, Augustus Van Horne Ellis

William Dunlap was just 17 when he sketched the General from life. He was staying at the home of Mr. and Mrs. John Horne near Rocky Hill, New Jersey. Van Horne suggested to Washington that he and Mrs. Washington might like to sit for the young artist. While the portrait of Mrs. Washington does not survive, Dunlap claimed, "I made what were thought likenesses."

Selected Papers of Charles Willson Peale and His Family, 1:235.

bust of george washington

• Jean-Antoine Houdon, French, (1741-1828)
• 1785
• Sculpture, Terracotta
• Mount Vernon Ladies' Association. Transferred to the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association through the generosity of John Augustine Washington

Born at French court, famed sculptor Houdon was known for capturing the spirit and accurate likenesses of European heads of state. Insisting upon the need to sculpt Washington from life, Houdon and three assistants arrived at Mount Vernon on October 2, 1785. There, Houdon made a life mask, modeled a terracotta bust from life, and took measurements of the General's form. The terracotta bust was presented to the General, and remains at Mount Vernon today.

Mezzotint engraving of george washington

• Charles Willson Peale, American, (1741-1827)
• 1787
• Mezzotint engraving
• Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Washington D.C.

Charles Willson Peale created a series of mezzotint engravings of Revolutionary War figures, including Benjamin Franklin and the Marquis de Lafayette. Peale captured Washington's likeness in Philadelphia during the Constitutional Convention on June 3, 1787.

Miniature of George washington

• The Marquise de Brehan (Madame Brielle), French, (  - 1826)
• Given to Martha Washington
• In the Private Collection of Mrs. Kate Upshur Moorhead, Daughters of the American Revolution

The Marquise de Brehan was the sister-in-law of the French Minister to the United States. She held a sincere admiration for George Washington, and first painted his likeness from memory prior to having the opportunity to paint him from life two years later. This miniature, produced in 1787, was presented to Mrs. Washington, and handed down to Mrs. Kate Upshur Moorhead, a direct descendant of Martha Washington. The General refers to the Marquise in his diary:

About two o'clock sat for Madame de Brehan (Brienne) to complete a profile picture of me which she had begun from memory, and which she has made exceedingly like the original.

- George Washington, October 3, 1788

Washington at Verplanck's Point New York, 1782, Reviewing the French Troops after the Victory at Yorktown

• John Trumbull, American, (1756-1743)
• 1790
• Original: Winterthur Museum, Winterthur, Delaware
• Copy: Mount Vernon Ladies' Association, Purchase, 1982, Object Number M-2832

Both a soldier and an artist, John Trumbull was a former aide to General George Washington during the American Revolution and served as deputy adjutant-general to General Horatio Gates. After the war, he traveled to London to study under English painter Benjamin West.

George Washington records the event in his diary on July 8, 1790:

Sat from 9 o'clock till after 10 for Mr. Jno. Trumbull, who was drawing a Portrait of me at full length which he intended to present to Mrs. Washington.

Miniature of George washington

• Archibald Robertson, Scottish, (1765-1835)
• 1790s
• The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Williamsburg, Virginia

Agreeable to your desire, I have the honor to intimate that the picture for the Earl Buchan being finished, I mean to take the opportunity of a Ship that sails from this soon for Scotland to transmit it to his Lordship, any commands you may have for his Lordship, I shall be happy to have the honor to forward, I remain Sir with the highest respect Your Most Obdt Hble Servt, Archibald Robertson.

- Archibald Robertson to George Washington, April 21, 1792

George washington

• William Williams, American, (1727-1791)
• 1793
• Pastel on Paper
• Commissioned by the Alexandria-Washington Masonic Lodge No. 22
• Alexandria-Washington Masonic Lodge No. 22

William Williams was an itinerant artist in Northern Virginia who eventually settled in Philadelphia. This work was commissioned by the Alexandria-Washington Masonic Lodge No. 22, where Washington was a Master.

The Vaughan Portrait and the Athenaeum portrait

• Gilbert Stuart, American, (1755-1828)

In 1795 and 1796, George Washington sat for Stuart. Whiles scholars disagree about the final product created from these sittings, the resulting type of portrait is now commonly known as the "Vaughan", as one of the surviving examples resided in the collection of London merchant Samuel Vaughan.

Speaking on Stuart's ability to capture Washington's likeness, author John Neal wrote in his book Randolph in 1823:

If Washington should appear on earth, just as he sat to Stuart, I am sure that [he] would be treated as an impostor, when compared with Stuart's likeness of him, unless he produced his credentials

Howard, Hugh. The Painter's Chair: George Washington and the Making of American Art. New York: Bloomsbury Press, 2009.

George washington

• Rembrandt Peale, American, (1778-1860)
• 1795
• The Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

Like his father Charles Willson Peale, Rembrandt was a skilled artist. In the fall of 1795, he asked his father to convince George Washington to sit for a portrait. Charles, in agreement that such exposure would be beneficial to his young son's artistic career, requested a sitting with the General. Washington obliged.

Rembrandt later recalled that he asked his father:

to begin a portrait, alongside of me, keeping [Washington] in familiar conversation.

Quoted in Sellers, Portraits and Miniatures, 239.