Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1888-05-01
PORTRAITS OF WASHINGTON.


Rembrandt Peaie's Account of How the
First President Sat for His Father.
Rembrandt Peale the artist who painted
| the famous, but horrible in its subject and
| suggestiveness, picture, Tho Court of
| DEATH" was son Of the also famous Charles
Wilson Peale, who painted from personal
sittings several portraits of Washington. In
a recent interview he said: washington
gave sittings to Stuart and my father at the
same time, and was often with him. This
was when he was president-about 1874. He
sat for my father in the quiet early morning,
before his state toilet had been made, and
when he appeared to the eyes of the charmed
observer simply as George Washington, the
man and citizen. He was then about G2
years old, and the tolls and trials which he
had passed through as the commander Of the
army and the quite as great cares Of six
years OF the presidency, added to the weight
of increasing years, had told with no little
severity upon his tall, stately and still impos-
ing frame and features His somewhat thin
hair was gray; years and fears and cares
had all left traces on his face, and his teeth
being gone, the lips and cheeks and lines
about the mouth were somewhat depressed
and contracted. My fathers portUit of
him. repeated Mr.. Peale, twas exactly of
Washington as he really was while he was
the man only, and before he had prepared
himself, as president, to enter upon his, more
especially then than now, arduous duties as
chief executive of the great but very young
republic
"But why" it was asked, "the two por-
traits being painted at the same time, should
Stuarts be 50 very unlike your father'sf
"Simply because continued Peale, ''as
have already stated, Washington gave his
sittings TO Stuart on the same day, but after
a careful preparation of his state toilet; and
he was exceedingly, almost austerely nice ia
all matters of conventional dress and deport-
ment. Indeed, the remove from the manners
and customs of England's monarchy was so
recent and so slight that the social atmos-
phere OF the White House partook largely of
the etiquette of the court, and the expected
and practiCed department of the executive
chamber was as formal in degree as that
which had been necessary in order to have
audience with the king.
''Ihis state toilet, among other things, in
cluded the careful combing and powdering of
the hair and the tying of it in IA cue; also
discreet "make upn of the face, and, most
noticeable of all, the fitting into the mouth Of
a full set of false teeth. Now, the art and
skill of the dentist in those days had not at
tanned TO n very perfect imitation of nature
and the plates being large and clumsy, gave
to the mouth and whole lower portion of the
face that fiat, full, square and unnatural APP
pearance which all careful observers of
Stuart's great portrait cannot fail to observe,
and which is very often questioningly re-
marked upon. This portrait was adopted as
harmonikzng more fully with the courtly
conception of what the personal appearance
and habliments of one in so great authority
should be; but Il portrait, it is of the
president rather than of the man, and is to
be regarded as the ideal, rather than as the
real Washingto n.n-A. S. Pease in The Sara
togian