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Primary sourcePainting1772

Washington in the Uniform of a British Colonial Colonel

Charles Willson Peale · 1772

The earliest known portrait of George Washington, painted in 1772 by Charles Willson Peale, showing him in his Virginia Regiment uniform.

This is the earliest known life portrait of Washington, commissioned by his wife Martha to hang at Mount Vernon.

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Oil portrait of a man in a dark blue coat with red waistcoat and red breeches, with silver braid trim, a gorget at the neck, a pink sash over the shoulder, and a black tricorn hat. He holds a musket and stands before a dark tree and a landscape at left.
Charles Willson Peale, Washington in the Uniform of a British Colonial Colonel, 1772. National Portrait Gallery.

About this source

What it is

This 1772 oil painting by Charles Willson Peale shows George Washington wearing the uniform of a colonel in the Virginia Regiment, holding a musket, with a landscape behind him. It is the first known painting of Washington, made years after his service in the French and Indian War and before the American Revolution. It is held by the National Portrait Gallery.

Why it matters

Washington's wife, Martha, commissioned this portrait to hang at Mount Vernon, showing how the family wanted him remembered, as a proud military officer from his earlier career. Painted well before the Revolution made him famous, it captures Washington's public image at a moment when he was a respected Virginia planter and veteran, not yet a national figure.

Look closer

  • Why might Martha Washington have chosen to commission a portrait showing her husband in his old military uniform?
  • What does Washington's pose and dress tell you about how he wanted to be seen?
  • What is missing from this image that would appear in later portraits made after the Revolution?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of George Washington on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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