Portrait of a Gentleman
ca. 1777
Medium
Watercolor on ivory
Dimensions
Sight: 1 1/2 x 1 1/4 in. (3.8 x 3.2 cm)
Classification
Painting, miniature
Culture
American
Department
The American Wing
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Fletcher Fund, 1938
Accession Number
38.146.11
Tags
Art Historical Context
**Portrait of a Gentleman** Charles Willson Peale created around 1777, is a delicate watercolor on ivory miniature, measuring just 1 1/2 x 1 1/4 inches. Housed in The Metropolitan Museum of Art's American Wing, this tiny gem exemplifies the intimate portraiture popular in colonial America. Peale, a leading figure in early American art, captured his subject's likeness with remarkable precision, making it ideal for wearing as a brooch or locket—a cherished personal keepsake during an era of uncertainty. Painted amid the American Revolutionary War, the work reflects Peale's own patriotic fervor;...
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 ...