Behind the Art: Fort Ligonier portrait depicts young George Washington

Visitors often don’t recognize the portrait of George Washington in the art gallery at Fort Ligonier.

They expect to find an image of the elder statesman, like the many created by early American portraitist Gilbert Stuart.

What they find instead is a depiction of the young Col. Washington, who spent time at the British fortification in 1758 during the French and Indian War.

“It’s a surprise to most visitors,” said Julie Donovan, the fort’s director of marketing and public relations.

“The public image is of the older George Washington, not the young Virginia provincial.”

The oil on canvas, circa 1820-50 by Rembrandt Peale, is formally titled, “George Washington Copied from the Original Portrait of Washington Painted by Ch. W. Peale in 1772.”

In it, Washington is clad in the blue regimental coat of the Virginia provincial forces that he wore during his time at Fort Ligonier.

He also wears a red silk sash and silver half-moon gorget, or piece of silver armor meant to protect the throat, both of which indicate his status as an officer.

The portrait, also displaying the auburn hair and deep-set blue eyes of the young Washington, “is an important part of our history, since he was here when he was 26,” Donovan said.

Washington arrived at Fort Ligonier in late October of 1758 to join Gen. John Forbes, whose objective was to capture the French Fort Duquesne at the confluence of the three rivers in what is now Pittsburgh.

Washington was with Forbes’s troops when they arrived at the burned and abandoned ruins of the fort on Nov. 25.

The Washington portrait was a 2006 gift to Fort Ligonier from an anonymous donor.

The Peale referred to in its title was Charles Willson Peale, 1741-1827, an American painter, soldier, scientist, inventor, politician and naturalist best remembered for his paintings of leading figures of the American Revolution.

The painter Rembrandt Peale, born in 1778 in Bucks County, was his son and also a prolific artist.

He completed more than 600 paintings, many of notable Americans such as President Thomas Jefferson, Chief Justice John Marshall and Vice President John C. Calhoun. He died in Philadelphia in 1860.

His work is found in many public collections, including the National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia.

Peale spent time in Paris during his early 30s, where his style was influenced by the French Neoclassical movement.

The likeness of Washington is presented in the romantic style of the 19th century.

“Isn’t he handsome? He was a handsome young man,” Donovan said of the future president.

Fort Ligonier Executive Director Mary Manges agrees.

“My husband and kids say I have a crush on him,” she said.