Object Record
Images
Metadata
Catalog Number |
58.P.38 |
Object Name |
Painting |
Title |
Portrait of François André Michaux |
Artist |
Peale, Rembrandt |
Date |
1809-10 |
Description |
Bust-length portrait with body turned to his right. The subject has short, black hair with sideburns and hazel eyes. He is wearing a black coat and stock and a white waistcoat and collar. He is seated in a wooden chair in front of a dark gray-tan background. Unsigned and undated. |
Label |
In 1809, Rembrandt Peale traveled to Europe to copy works by Old Masters and paint portraits to exhibit in the Philadelphia Museum. His father Charles Willson Peale, the Museum's founder and curator, wished to display portraits of eminent European and American men of science, the arts, and politics to serve as intellectual models for visitors. At the time of this portrait, French naturalist and explorer François André Michaux was publishing a book on the forest trees of America. The elder Peale wrote that Michaux's publication would "establish his reputation" in the United States. |
Medium |
Oil on canvas |
Dimensions |
H-36 W-30.5 D-2 inches |
Dimension Details |
Framed |
Credit line |
American Philosophical Society. Gift of the family of Dr. Joseph Carson, 19 March 1880. |
Search Terms |
19th Century nineteenth century painting scientist Peale Museum botany |