Painting Name | Lansdowne portrait of George Washington |
Painter Name | Gilbert Stuart |
Completion Date | 1796 |
Size | 243.8 cm × 152.4 cm (8 ft × 5 ft) |
Technique | Oil |
Material | Canvas |
Current Location | National Portrait Gallery (United States) |
One of the most important historical portraits of George Washington, Lansdowne portrait depicts the first president of America with a humble appearance. He is standing in a room with a dress sword in a hand while other hand raised in front. Behind him is a chair and on the right side is a table, carrying an ink-spot with books, rolled paper, table cloth and white quill.
The full length portrait of the America’s is a valuable painting which has survived man bad days including the War of 1812. During the war, the British soldiers had conquered the white house in which the large portrait was hung. The soldiers ate and then infamously burned down the whole white house. Luckily enough, the portrait was saved by the Dolley Madison, the wife of James Madison, 4th president of America.
After that incident, like many other important paintings, government ordered to make several copies of the portrait. The only difference was that the reproductions had wrong spellings of the book-covers depicted under the table in the portrait.
The portrait of 1796 is currently displayed in National Portrait Gallery (United States).