George Washington

Rembrandt Peale

National Gallery of Art

This painting shows a man from the chest up. The man's body faces us, while his head is turned to the left. His facial features include a broad forehead, strong nose, and thin lips. He has pale skin with rosy cheeks and thin, dark eyebrows. His hair is white and pulled back from his head, curling down around his ears. He is dressed in a military uniform that features a dark blue coat with gold epaulettes on the shoulders, gold buttons, and a prominent yellow collar. Underneath, he wears a ruffled white cravat. The background is a gradient of white and gray, lighter at the top and becoming darker behind the man's shoulders. The man is outlined in an oval, and beyond that oval is a cracked frame-like surface in shades of gray and light green, as if the man is looking through an oval window or porthole.