[Portrait] George Washington's accomplishments and prestige made his election as the new country's first president in 1789 almost inevitable.

Rembrandt Peale painted George Washington from life in 1795. He eventually developed an idealized image of Washington as the Pater patriae ("father of the country"). This image served as the model for Peale's subsequent "porthole" portraits of Washington in which an oval stonework frame -- a European convention dating back to the Middle Ages -- surrounds the face.

Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, gift of an anonymous donor
"Porthole" portrait of George Washington as he appeared in 1795, probably painted in 1853 by Rembrandt Peale (1778-1860), oil on canvas

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