Portrait of General George Washington Thomas Sully Postcard

At first glance, this portrait seems to be a simple record of George Washington’s appearance. But many details are more important for the ideas they symbolize than as a record of history. Indeed, some things in the picture never existed. The furniture, decorated with national symbols like the eagle, was probably invented by the artist.

The black velvet suit Washington wears is also symbolic. As the first president of a modern democracy, Washington had to decide how such a leader should dress. Washington chose a black suit to show that he was a different kind of leader an ordinary citizen elected by the people. The sword at Washington’s waist reminds us that he was a military leader. But the quill pen standing in the silver inkwell on the table is most powerful here. The pen, the books on the floor, and the paper on the table symbolize the laws of the new nation. The laws, the painting tells us, will last longer than the rule of one man in this new country. Even the weather in the distant sky is symbolic. A faint rainbow appears beside lingering dark clouds, the calm after a storm. For citizens of the young United States, George Washington’s presidency gave hope for a peaceful future after the turmoil of creating a nation.

Philadelphia artist Thomas Sully, which once owned the painting, made his living by painting portraits. He completed more than 2000 pictures in his lifetime. Usually the people in his pictures sat for him in person as he sketched even the young Queen Victoria of England. This job was different. George Washington had been dead for more than 20 years. For this picture Sully copied the work of another artist, Gilbert Stuart. Stuart had painted Washington from life when he was still president. The president disliked posing for portraits. By the end of his presidency few artists had the chance to paint him from life. Gilbert Stuart had many requests to paint copies of his paintings of George Washington for the new government buildings being built in the young nation. Stuart hoped to make his fortune selling these replicas. Indeed, more people wanted pictures than Stuart could provide. Other artists, such as Thomas Sully, were happy to take the commissions.

The Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) is an arts museum located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Home to more than 90,000 works of art representing 5,000 years of world history, Mia is one of the largest art museums in the United States. In 2015, the institute rebranded itself, dropping the final "s" from its name, to become the Minneapolis Institute of Art and encouraging the use of the nickname Mia instead of the acronym MIA.

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