George Washington

This iconic portrait of the first U.S. president shows him in a simple black velvet suit, the imagery consciously intended to contrast with European regal portraits. Instead of royal regalia, the image contains symbols associated with the Roman Republic such as bundled fasces (military rods) on the legs of the table and chair, and plain doric columns behind the figure. The pen and inkstand on the table, along with nearby books and documents, demonstrate that the chief executive’s authority derives from law. Interestingly, the commission for the related painting came from William Petty, 1st Marquess of Lansdowne, the British prime minister who had overseen peace negotiations with the United States. The American born portraitist Gilbert Stuart had returned to the United States, in 1793, after eighteen years in England and Ireland. By 1795 he was in Philadelphia, the nation’s temporary capital. A sitting with Washington on April 11, 1796, secured with the help of Senator William Bingham of Pennsylvania, produced a crucial head study now known at the Atheneum Portrait. Over the following summer, Stuart developed the present full-length image where the president gestures as though delivering a speech. In September 1796, Washington informed the public of his decision to leave office by publishing a "Farewell Address," then retired on March 4, 1797. Lord Landsdowne received his painting from Stuart that same month. Edward Savage based his 1801 mezzotint on one of the three painted replicas that Stuart made for American patrons. To avoid a large unmodulated black area at the center of the monochrome image, Savage gave Washington a tighter-fitting coat than he wears in the painting.