Portrait of George Washington by Gilbert Stuart

Martha Washington commissioned Gilbert Stuart for portraits of herself and her husband in 1796. Although George Washington's jaw and mouth look stiff and uncomfortable due to a new set of ill-fitting dentures in the resulting portrait, Stuart was so satisfied with the likeness that he kept the unfinished canvases to complete his many orders for replicas. He created approximately 75 of George Washington, including this example, painted in 1798. Despite repeated requests from Martha Washington and Tobias Lear for the originals, Stuart's portraits of our nation's first couple never made it to Mount Vernon. Today, his Athenaeum-type portrait is arguably the most recognized image of George Washington - a version of it appears on the U.S. one-dollar bill.

Gift of Caroline H. Richardson, 1904 [H-4]