The Lansdowne Portrait of George Washington.

[WASHINGTON, George; Gilbert Stuart].

Item Number: 126983

Large oil portrait of George Washington, after Gilbert Stuart’s iconic Landsdowne Portrait of 1796. Oil on canvas, the painting depicts the 64-year-old President of the United States during his final year in office. Framed. In fine condition. The entire piece measures 35 inches by 23 inches.

A gift to former British Prime Minister William Petty, 1st Marquess of Lansdowne, Gilbert Stuart's iconic life-sized Lansdowne Portrait was first painted in 1796. A depiction of President Washington's December 7, 1795 annual address to the Fourth U.S. Congress in which he acknowledged the struggle over the highly unpopular Jay Treaty of 1794 and called for unity between America and Great Britain. This address was the last that Washington delivered to Congress in person. His Farewell Address, published in 1796 was published in newspapers and never delivered to Congress. In England, the Lansdowne portrait was celebrated as Washington's endorsement of the Jay Treaty. In the May 15, 1797 issue of The Oracle and Public Advertiser, it was described as "... one of the finest pictures we have seen since the death of Reynolds. The dress [Washington] wears is plain black velvet; he has his sword on, upon the hilt of which one hand rests while the other is extended, as the figure is standing and addressing the Hall of Assembly. The point of time is that when he recommended inviolable union between America and Great Britain." Stuart painted three copies of the Lansdowne, and five portraits that were closely related to it. His most famous copy has hung in the East Room of the White House since 1800.