George Washington (Lansdowne portrait)

Gilbert Stuart painted this full-length portrait in 1796, depicting the 64-year-old president in his final year in office. Washington stands in civilian dress, arm outstretched in an oratorical pose, surrounded by symbols of the new republic: the Great Seal, books including the Constitution and Laws of the United States, and a sword representing his military past.

William Bingham, a wealthy Philadelphia merchant, commissioned the portrait as a gift for William Petty, Marquess of Lansdowne, who had supported the colonial cause during the Revolution. Stuart drew from European traditions of state portraiture while adding American elements: the table leg carved as a Roman fasces, a rainbow symbolizing peace after war, and Washington's own coat of arms on the silver inkwell.

Washington's stiff expression comes from his famous false teeth, as Stuart himself noted. The artist painted approximately 100 portraits of Washington over his career, including three replicas of this Lansdowne type. One replica hung in the White House from 1800. Dolley Madison famously saved it during the 1814 British burning of Washington. The original remained in England for over 170 years before the National Portrait Gallery acquired it in 2001.