Gallery 104, American Art, first floor (Ross Gallery)
Main Building
Gallery 104, American Art, first floor (Ross Gallery)
Main Building
Charles Willson Peale considered this genial yet intense self-portrait a "faithful likeness." He purposely illuminated his features and silver hair against the dark crimson curtain to convey the inspiration and enlightened educational ideals that guided him in founding the museum he established on the second floor of Philadelphia's Independence Hall.
He also wished to represent "the effect of the perspective in the long room" in order to document the Peale Museum's expansive main gallery. To his left at ceiling height is a glimpse of the portrait gallery and a gas-lighting fixture, while below, the artist has depicted several natural-science specimens.
Gallery 104, American Art, first floor (Ross Gallery)
Title: | Self-Portrait in the Museum |
Date: | 1822 |
Artist: | Charles Willson Peale (American, 1741–1827) |
Medium: | Oil on canvas |
Dimensions: | 26 × 22 inches (66 × 55.9 cm) Frame: 33 1/4 × 29 1/4 × 2 1/2 inches (84.5 × 74.3 × 6.4 cm) |
Classification: | Paintings |
Credit Line: | Gift of the McNeil Americana Collection, 2015 |
Accession Number: | 2015-1-1 |
Geography: | Made in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, North and Central America |
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Gallery 104, American Art, first floor (Ross Gallery)
Main Building