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George Washington, 1732-1799
This is one of Gilbert Stuart's first portraits of George Washington, painted in 1795, during Washington's second term as president. Washington is depicted in the black velvet suit that he wore on formal public occasions. Stuart had returned to America in 1793 specifically to paint the president's portrait, planning on income from his own copies. He painted about a dozen examples of this first pose, which faces to the right and is known as the "Vaughan" type, after Samuel Vaughan, the first owner of this work. Stuart's Vaughan portraits are a careful physiognomic record of Washington's appearance. This replica was engraved in London in 1796 for a publication on physiognomy, the study of human character as interpreted from a person's facial features.
Gilbert Stuart, 1795
Lent by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC |