Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-02-21
MANY IN THE LAND,
A LIST or SOME OF THE MOST
NOTABLE OF THEM.
HIS COHPLACENCY ILLUSTRATED.
Sat for Peaie Fourteen Times
wrfghts EGort-In Ivory and OIL
A Combination suggested-work
of stuart.

70 be found in the life-portralts OF him
scattered throughout the country.
Few things could have been moro dis
tasteful to him than the posing they ne
cessitated. lie declared that each sitting
would be his last; and yet again and again
he yielded TO the opportunities Of friends
and admirers. and In the case OF TIum~
bull donned his Colonial uniform ana
rode through the streets OF Philadelphia
on a charger that the artist might obtain
the right impression of him for his paint
ing OF tho Capture OF the Hessians at
Trenton" He sat TO men, women, ana
even 10 boys. and writes to Judge HOP
klnson, father of the author OF Hail.
Columbia:
IL am so hackneyed TO the touches OF
the painters pencil that 1 am now alto
gether at their beck, and sit like Patience
on a monument while they are deiineat-
ing the lines of my face. 1t is a proof OF
what habit and custom may accomplish
At first / was as impatient at the request
and as FESTIVE under the operation rs
colt is under the saddle; the next time J
submitted very reluctantly. but with less
prancing: now no dray-horse moves more
er's chair"
Now and then en- enterprlsing artist
stole a hurried sketch Of him as he sat IN
church or passed on the street. The most
erotesque of his portraits was taken IN
this way. and was engraved and sold Dy
specuIators before any other representa-
ton Of him was popularity known. IL was
the work Of Alexander Campbell, of VIII
llamsburg, Va, and a copy OF 1t Is pre-
served In the Historical Society or Penn
svlvapia. In acknowledging reproduc-
ton of this caricature sent to his wife,
washington says: MIR. Campbell, whom L
never saw to my knowledge has made
very formidable figure of the Commander
tn-Chief. giving him a sufficient portion OF
terror in his countenance"
The earliest picture OF the great man
was taken when he was % years old by
Copeley. It was an ivory miniature and
was lent by member Of his family 10
whom II descended to Mr.. George r. Put
nam. who wished to procure from u an
Illustration for 'Trving's Life OF Wash
ington." It was entrusted 10 an en-
ployee OF the establishment, who, carry
ing IL about his person, went on boating
expedition off the coast OF Maine ana
was drowned Several days elapsed be-
fore his body was recovered but the pic
ture. in its gutta percha case, was unin-
jured.
The first oil-painting for which Wash
inrton sat was from the brush Of Charles
Wilson Peale, and is known as the
Colonial Portrait" 1t was the only
portrait taken Of him prior TO the Revo-
luton, and is so highly esteeInea thdt
more than a hundred copies of IL have
been made. one of the handsomest being
In possession OF Mr. Edmund Law Rogers,
Of baltimore. descendant Of Mrs.
Washington. The original painting was
for many years the chief ornament in
the parlor at Mount Vernon. 1t was az
terward in the Arlington collection, ana
during the civil war was concealed In a
cellar and somewhat defaced by damp
ness. 1t has since been skilfully re-
stored. and Is now the property Of Gene
raj Gusts Lee, Of Lexington, Va, the
son of the commander-in-Chief Of the
Confederate forces. and late president OF
Washington and Lee University. The
bust study from which the portrait was
made is owned by Mr.. Charles S. Ogden,
of Philadelphia.
FOR PEALE FOURTEEN TIMES.
WASHINGTON sat for Peale fourteen
times. His representation of him, which
adorns Nassau Hall, Princeton College,
is at once an Illustration of the artists
skill, and OF the subjects generosity
During the battle which occurred there
a cannon-ball penetrated the college
building, and destroyed the picture Of
George II, which hung upon its walls.
When told Of the accident, Washington
took from his purse 30 guineas, with the
request that It would be employed in re-
pairing the loss. The trustees OF the
Institution devoted the sum- instead, to
securing a painting OF the Commander
himself, entrusting its execution to
Charles Wilson Peale. While sitting to
this painter for the last time, in 1895,
Washington permitted his younger bro
Their James Peale. TO make sketch or
him. His two sons. Rembrandt and Ra-
phael, both artists, and mere boys at the
time. were also present, the circum-
stances elciting from the General his
only recorded bon mot: Gentlemen" he
said. turning to them, II am being literal
ly Pealed."
From the sketch then obtained, James
Peale painted an ivory miniature whis5}
was so beautifully done that the elder
Peale abandoned miniature painting and
referred all patrons TO his brother
This miniature was purchased in 1912 by
the artillery CORDS Of the Washington
Grays. Of philadelphia; and, Enclosed in
a double gold case, with lock OF Wash
ington's hair, has been Deposited for safe
Keeping in a bank vault. James Peals
afterwards executed an oil painting OF
the hero for David c. Claypole. editor OF
the philadelphia Daily Advertiser, the
sournal which he selected for the publ
cation Of his farewell address AT the
death of Mr.. Claypole the portrait. with
the original manuscript Of the address,
was bought by James Lenox, and is now
In the Lenox collection In New York. A
third specimen OF this artists work
hangs above the doorway OF INDIE
pendence Hall.
Rembrandt Peale possessed all the en-
thusiasm OF genius and as child, while
watching hts father make life studies OF
washington, conceived such an adrnira-
tIon for him as Influenced his whole life
work. At the sitting accorded TO the
Peale quartette. he says:
81 observed that my father began to
paint downward, aud, fearing that he
might not have time for the study OF
the mouth, I commenced at the chin. Ia
consequence. there was something in the
upper part OF his Interpretation which I
preferred, while the lower portion OF
mine better satisfied me-"
He painted ten portraits from this
sitting, and afterwards made sixteen at
tenpts 10 combine his fathers study and
his own; but though these representations
found ready purchasers. they fell short
Of the artists own conception. A desire
10 place on canvas perfect reproduc-
ton OF Washington continued to haunt
him, and. in 1873, under an excitement,
which he describes as beyond the poetic
frenzy" his final effort was made He
gathered about him ell that could shed
light on the character and appearance
OF his subject, but the image which
glowed In his memory surpassed them