1792 painting by John Trumbull
General George Washington at Trenton
is a large full-length portrait in
oil
painted in 1792 by the American artist
John Trumbull
of General
George Washington
at
Trenton, New Jersey
, on the night of January 2, 1777, during the
American Revolutionary War
. This is the night after the
Battle of the Assunpink Creek
, also known as the Second Battle of Trenton, and before the decisive victory at the
Battle of Princeton
the next day.
[1]
The artist considered this portrait "the best certainly of those which I painted."
[2]
[3]
The portrait is on view at the
Yale University Art Gallery
in
New Haven, Connecticut
, an 1806 gift of the
Society of the Cincinnati
in Connecticut.
[2]
It was commissioned by the city of
Charleston, South Carolina
, but was rejected by the city, resulting in Trumbull painting another version.
[3]
Commission
[
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]
The work was commissioned by the city of
Charleston, South Carolina
, in 1792 to commemorate President Washington's visit there in May 1791 during his Southern Tour.
[2]
[4]
Trumbull had visited Charleston earlier, in February 1791, to paint portraits of several leaders, including
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney
.
[4]
Trumbull took the commission from
William Loughton Smith
, a representative of South Carolina and representing Charleston,
con amore
(with love), to paint Washington "in the most sublime moment ... the evening previous to the battle of Princeton".
[3]
[5]
Description
[
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]
General George Washington is in full military uniform, a blue coat over
buff
waistcoat and pants. He holds a spyglass in his right hand and a sword in his left hand. Behind him is
Blueskin
, his spirited, light-colored horse, restrained by a groom. Further in the distance is the bridge over the
Assunpink Creek
and nearby mill, along with artillery and campfires.
[6]
Charleston version
[
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]
After Smith rejected the painting, Trumbull painted a similar, but different version for the city, entitled
Washington at the City of Charleston
. It was now set at Charleston, with the city in the background, the
Cooper River
and boats in the middle ground, and local plants in the foreground. Washington is shown as Smith wanted, "calm, tranquil, peaceful." He wears gloves on both hands, holds a hat in his left hand which is shown resting on his sword, while holding a
walking stick
with his right hand.
[3]
[7]
The painting is now on view in the Charleston City Hall.
[7]
[8]
Other versions
[
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]
Trumbull painted a much smaller version (
26
+
1
/
2
inches (67 cm) x
18
+
1
/
2
inches (47 cm)), entitled
George Washington before the Battle of Trenton
,
c.
1792
?94, likely for his friend Charles Wilkes, a New York banker. It is similar to the original, but with changes in the background and a
bay
horse.
[9]
It was bequested to the
Metropolitan Museum of Art
in 1922 and is on view there.
[10]
In 1794, Trumbull went to
London
as secretary of legation for
John Jay
during the negotiations of the
Jay Treaty
. He had made a small version of this portrait and later supervised its engraving by
Thomas Cheesman
, entitled
George Washington
, in 1796. It was noted by historian
Justin Winsor
as the best engraving of Trumbull's paintings and was used as the basis for several other engravings.
[11]
[12]
[13]
In 1845, William Warner Jr. engraved
Gen. Washington
.
[14]
Illman & Sons engraved a version
George Washington - On the Great Occasion of our Presidential Election
in 1858.
[15]
Alfred Daggett engraved a version,
Washington at Trenton, New Jersey, January 2d, 1777
, that was published in
Historical Collections of New Jersey, Past and Present
by
John W. Barber
and
Henry Howe
in 1868.
[16]
An engraving entitled,
General Washington at the Bridge Over the Assunpink Creek
, was published in the 1898 book,
The Battles of Trenton and Princeton
, by historian William S. Stryker.
[17]
Critical reception
[
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]
Trumbull described the thinking of Washington after seeing the superiority of the enemy at Trenton:
... he is supposed to have been meditating how to avoid the apparently impending ruin. To re-cross the Delaware in the presence of such an enemy, was impossible; to retreat down the eastern side of the river, and cross at Philadelphia, was equally so; to hazard a battle on the ground, was desperate.
[6]
Historian and painter
William Dunlap
after viewing it in the Trumbull Gallery at Yale said: "This is, in many respects, a fine picture, and painted in the artist's best days."
[18]
Gallery
[
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]
-
George Washington before the Battle of Trenton
, by
John Trumbull
,
c.
1792
?94
-
George Washington
, engraving by
Thomas Cheesman
, 1796
-
Gen. Washington
, on the battle field at Trenton, engraving by William Warner Jr., 1845
-
George Washington - On the Great Occasion of our Presidential Election
, engraved by Illman & Sons, 1858
-
General Washington at the Bridge Over the Assunpink Creek
, published by William S. Stryker, 1898
-
Washington on the Eve of the Battle of Princeton
, photo by
Detroit Publishing Co.
, 1912
Legacy
[
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]
The
United States Post Office
has issued several
postage stamps
of George Washington from the portrait detail in this painting. The first was issued in 1860 with a ninety-cent value.
[19]
[20]
This stamp was revised and issued the next year, 1861.
[21]
In 1931, the
Battle of Yorktown
commemorative with a two-cent value included this portrait.
[13]
[22]
A stamp with a six-cent value was issued as part of the
Washington Bicentennial stamps of 1932
.
[23]
[24]
Finally, the Army and Navy Commemorative Series included a stamp with one-cent value in 1936.
[13]
[25]
On February 21, 1915,
The New York Times
published a full-page image of the painting with the caption "
General Washington
, painted from life by his staff officer and friend, Col. John Trumbull", in the Picture section, the first time in
Rotogravure
.
[26]
See also
[
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]
References
[
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]
- ^
Cooper, Helen A. (2008). "
General George Washington at Trenton
".
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: American Art from the Yale University Art Gallery
. New Haven, Conn.:
Yale University Art Gallery
. pp. 116?117.
ISBN
978-0-300-12289-3
.
- ^
a
b
c
Trumbull, John.
"
General George Washington at Trenton
"
.
Yale University Art Gallery
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Trumbull, John (1841).
Autobiography, Reminiscences and Letters of John Trumbull, from 1756 to 1841
. New York:
Wiley and Putnam
. pp.
166
?67.
- ^
a
b
Pinckney, Charles
(March 8, 1791).
"To George Washington from Charles Pinckney, 8 March 1791"
.
Founders Online, National Archives
.
- ^
Trumbull, John.
"George Washington before the Battle of Trenton"
.
National Portrait Gallery
.
- ^
a
b
Trumbull, John
(1835).
"No. 39.?Portrait of General Washington"
.
Catalogue of Paintings, by Colonel Trumbull; Including Eight Subjects of the American Revolution, with Near Two Hundred and Fifty Portraits of Persons Distinguished in That Important Period. Painted by Him from the Life
. Gallery of Yale College. pp. 33?34.
- ^
a
b
Trumbull, John.
"
George Washington
, (painting)"
.
Inventory of American Sculpture, Smithsonian Institution Research Information System
.
Smithsonian American Art Museum
. IAP 60820026.
- ^
Washington, George
(May 5, 1792).
"From George Washington to William Moultrie, 5 May 1792"
.
Founders Online, National Archives
.
- ^
Caldwell, John; Rodriguez Roque, Oswaldo (1994).
"
George Washington before the Battle of Trenton
"
. In Kathleen Luhrs (ed.).
American Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art
. Vol. I: A Catalogue of Works by Artists Born by 1815.
Metropolitan Museum of Art
. pp. 216?7.
- ^
Trumbull, John.
"
George Washington before the Battle of Trenton
"
. Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- ^
Winsor, Justin
(1888).
"The Portraits of Washington"
.
Narrative and Critical History of America
. Vol. 7.
Houghton, Mifflin and Company
. pp. 568?9.
- ^
Cheesman, Thomas
.
"
George Washington
"
. Yale University Art Gallery.
- ^
a
b
c
Sizer, Theodore
(1950).
The Works of Colonel John Trumbull, Artist of the American Revolution
.
Yale University Press
. p. 63.
- ^
Warner, William.
"Gen. Washington (on the battle field at Trenton)"
.
Library of Congress
.
- ^
"
George Washington - On the Great Occasion of our Presidential Election
"
.
Brown University Library
.
- ^
Barber, John W.
;
Howe, Henry
(1868).
Historical Collections of New Jersey, Past and Present
. S.C., Reprint Company. p.
392
.
- ^
Stryker, William S. (1898).
The Battles of Trenton and Princeton
. p. 262.
- ^
Dunlap, William
(1918).
A History of the Rise and Progress of the Arts of Design in the United States
. Vol. 2. p. 76.
- ^
Leavy, Joseph B. (1918).
"History and Biography of the 1851?60 Issue"
.
American Philatelist and Year Book of the American Philatelic Association
. Vol. 32.
American Philatelic Association
. pp. 90?93.
- ^
"90-cent Washington (1851?1861 Issues)"
.
National Postal Museum
.
- ^
"90-cent Washington (1861 Issues)"
. National Postal Museum.
- ^
"Yorktown Issue (1930?1931 Issues)"
. National Postal Museum.
- ^
"6-cent Red Orange (Washington Bicentennial Issue)"
. National Postal Museum.
- ^
"Bicentennial Commemorative Postage Stamps"
.
Report of the United States George Washington Bicentennial Commission
. Vol. 5. United States George Washington Bicentennial Commission. 1932. pp. 152?155.
- ^
"1-cent Washington & Greene (1936?1937 Issues)"
. National Postal Museum.
- ^
"
General Washington
, painted from life by his staff officer and friend, Col. John Trumbull"
.
The New York Times
. February 21, 1915. p. 43.
External links
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