Matthias and Thomas Bordley
Medium
Painting-Miniature
Classification
Painting-Miniature
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase and gift of Mr. and Mrs. Murray Lloyd Goldsborough, Jr.
Accession Number
1974.113
Tags
About this artwork
Charles Willson Pealeâs tender portrait of Matthias and Thomas Bordley presents the young sons of John Beale Bordley, Pealeâs early patron. This oval miniature is a reminder that such keepsakes were often painted to comfort the owner in the absence of the people portrayed. Bordleyâs sons had just arrived in London to be educated at Eton, under the watchful eye of a family friend. Here, Peale shows them with a bust of Minerva, Roman goddess of wisdom, with a view of St. Paulâs Cathedral i...
About the Artist
Charles Willson Peale · 1741–1827
Charles Willson Peale (1741–1827) was an American painter, museum founder, naturalist, and inventor who became the most important American portraitist of the Revolutionary era and a central figure in the cultural life of the young republic. Born in Queen Anne's County, Maryland, he initially trained as a saddler before turning to painting, studying briefly with John Singleton Copley in Boston and ...