George Washington after the Battle of Princeton.
Charles Willson Peale; oil on canvas, 1780. The Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association Collections, Bequest of Jane J. Boudinot, 1927 [H-17].
Charles Willson Peale painted this portrait of George Washington for Elias Boudinot of New Jersey, a fellow officer and friend of Washington, President of the Continental Congress in 1782-1783, and trustee of Princeton University (then known as the College of New Jersey). It is based on Peale’s 1779 commission from the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, and is one of at least 18 replicas Peale executed between 1779 and 1781 depicting Washington at the Battle of Princeton. The battle, fought on January 3, 1777, marked the first time in open combat that American troops broke a British line. Washington himself rode at the head of his troops, in direct fire, seemingly invincible. Peale knew Washington’s leadership at Princeton well, as he served in the battle and saw fire at Princeton. Here, he portrayed the victorious general standing at ease with Princeton's Nassau Hall in the background. His stance and bearing express an unshakable confidence in America's cause.