This recently authenticated portrait of George Washington after the battle of Princeton now hangs in the U.S. Embassy Paris Ambassador's Residence -- scroll down to see the Louis XIV salon it is now on display.
Excerpted from the UPI news website…
For the past three decades, an air of doubt surrounded a painting of President George Washington that was gifted to the State Department in an art patron's will more than three decades ago. The patron had little documentation that the portrait of Washington following the Battle of Princeton was actually painted by Charles Willson Peale, according to the Office of Cultural Heritage.
However, any doubt that the painting was not authentic was put to rest following an extensive study commissioned by the Office of Cultural Heritage.
Findings showed that the portrait was indeed the work of Peale. He painted the portrait numerous times beginning in 1779, recreating it to share with the world. Peale was known for his portraits of prominent American figures during the Revolutionary War.
"We thank the American and French partners involved and the Office of Cultural Heritage for their work confirming that our treasured Washington portrait, displayed in the Louis XVI salon of the Ambassador's Residence for the last 38 years, is in fact the original Charles Willson Peale painting lost to the art world for 60 years," Denise Campbell Bauer, U.S. ambassador to France and Monaco, said in a statement.
PHOTO CREDIT: New York Times; Since the 1980s, the Peale portrait has been displayed in Paris at the residence of the U.S. ambassador to France. For more details from the New York Times about this extraordinary art story, click here: Was This Washington Portrait Really by Charles Peale? Experts Took a Look. - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
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