Sources for America’s History: Printed Page 152
6-4 | | A Republican Hero Emerges |
JAMES PEALE, General George Washington at Yorktown (c. 1782) |
Charles Willson Peale’s full-length George Washington portrait helped the general become the icon of the American Revolution. Charles and his brother, James, created several versions depicting Washington in different landscapes. In this version by James, Washington has just defeated the British at the decisive battle at Yorktown (1781), which led swiftly to the British general Charles Cornwallis’s surrender and the war’s end. The French and American flags behind Washington acknowledge the 1773 Treaty of Alliance. The Yorktown battlefield can be seen in the background.
READING AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
What do the details Peale included in the painting tell you about his point of view toward Washington and the Battle of Yorktown?
What significance can you infer from Peale’s decision to depict Washington leaning against the cannon with his legs crossed? How does this pose compare to more formal portraits you may have seen?
What conclusion about Washington’s popularity can you draw from the Peale brothers’ decision to produce multiple versions of the general’s portrait?