Revolutionary Portraiture

Portraits of the Founding Fathers were in high demand in the new nation. Commemorating their leadership and elevating them to national heroes, their portraits also shaped collective myths and memories of these patriots.  
 
One example is Gilbert Stuart’s famous portrait of George Washington, which has come to define our vision of the revolutionary general and first president. Originally painted in 1796, it served as the basis for many of the images of Washington that circulated across the nation thereafter, including many in this exhibition. It may even be found in your own wallet—it is the source of Washington’s image on the one-dollar bill.  
 
Like many artists, however, Stuart was more concerned with idealizing the revolutionary hero in character and appearance than he was with trying to capture an exact likeness. At the time of its creation, in fact, many remarked on its dissimilarity to Washington. Stuart instead expressed heroic and uplifting values through altered features. The version we are familiar with today was completed after several sessions with Washington, who detested sitting for portraits. The result—with Washington’s strong, clinched jaw and pursed lips, red cheeks, resolute yet approachable gaze that looks slightly down on viewers, and his simple yet gentlemanly suit—is a humble and grounded yet confident leader and a man of virtue, morality, action, self-control, and determination.