| General George Washington at Trenton | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | John Trumbull |
| Year | 1792 |
| Medium | oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 235 cm × 160 cm (92 1/2 in × 63 in) |
| Location | Yale University Art Gallery,New Haven, Connecticut |
General George Washington at Trenton is a large full-length portrait inoil painted in 1792 by the American artistJohn Trumbull of GeneralGeorge Washington atTrenton, New Jersey, on the night of January 2, 1777, during theAmerican Revolutionary War. This is the night after theBattle of the Assunpink Creek, also known as the Second Battle of Trenton, and before the decisive victory at theBattle of Princeton the next day.[1] The artist considered this portrait "the best certainly of those which I painted."[2][3] The portrait is on view at theYale University Art Gallery inNew Haven, Connecticut, an 1806 gift of theSociety of the Cincinnati in Connecticut.[2] It was commissioned by the city ofCharleston, South Carolina, but was rejected by the city, resulting in Trumbull painting another version.[3]
The work was commissioned by the city ofCharleston, South Carolina, in 1792 to commemorate President Washington's visit there in May 1791 during his Southern Tour.[2][4] Trumbull had visited Charleston earlier, in February 1791, to paint portraits of several leaders, includingCharles Cotesworth Pinckney.[4] Trumbull took the commission fromWilliam Loughton Smith, a representative of South Carolina and representing Charleston,con amore (with love), to paint Washington "in the most sublime moment ... the evening previous to the battle of Princeton".[3][5]
General George Washington is in full military uniform, a blue coat overbuff waistcoat and pants. He holds a spyglass in his right hand and a sword in his left hand. Behind him isBlueskin, his spirited, light-colored horse, restrained by a groom. Further in the distance is the bridge over theAssunpink Creek and nearby mill, along with artillery and campfires.[6]
After Smith rejected the painting, Trumbull painted a similar, but different version for the city, entitledWashington at the City of Charleston. It was now set at Charleston, with the city in the background, theCooper River and boats in the middle ground, and local plants in the foreground. Washington is shown as Smith wanted, "calm, tranquil, peaceful." He wears gloves on both hands, holds a hat in his left hand which is shown resting on his sword, while holding awalking stick with his right hand.[3][7] The painting is now on view in the Charleston City Hall.[7][8]
Trumbull painted a much smaller version (26+1/2 inches (67 cm) x18+1/2 inches (47 cm)), entitledGeorge Washington before the Battle of Trenton,c. 1792–94, likely for his friend Charles Wilkes, a New York banker. It is similar to the original, but with changes in the background and abay horse.[9] It was bequested to theMetropolitan Museum of Art in 1922 and is on view there.[10] In 1794, Trumbull went toLondon as secretary of legation forJohn Jay during the negotiations of theJay Treaty. He had made a small version of this portrait and later supervised its engraving byThomas Cheesman, entitledGeorge Washington, in 1796. It was noted by historianJustin Winsor as the best engraving of Trumbull's paintings and was used as the basis for several other engravings.[11][12][13] In 1845, William Warner Jr. engravedGen. Washington.[14] Illman & Sons engraved a versionGeorge Washington - On the Great Occasion of our Presidential Election in 1858.[15] Alfred Daggett engraved a version,Washington at Trenton, New Jersey, January 2nd, 1777, that was published inHistorical Collections of New Jersey, Past and Present byJohn W. Barber andHenry Howe in 1868.[16] An engraving entitled,General Washington at the Bridge Over the Assunpink Creek, was published in the 1898 book,The Battles of Trenton and Princeton, by historian William S. Stryker.[17]
Trumbull described the thinking of Washington after seeing the superiority of the enemy at Trenton:
... he is supposed to have been meditating how to avoid the apparently impending ruin. To re-cross the Delaware in the presence of such an enemy, was impossible; to retreat down the eastern side of the river, and cross at Philadelphia, was equally so; to hazard a battle on the ground, was desperate.[6]
Historian and painterWilliam Dunlap after viewing it in the Trumbull Gallery at Yale said: "This is, in many respects, a fine picture, and painted in the artist's best days."[18]
TheUnited States Post Office has issued severalpostage stamps of George Washington from the portrait detail in this painting. The first was issued in 1860 with a ninety-cent value.[19][20] This stamp was revised and issued the next year in 1861.[21] In 1931, theBattle of Yorktown commemorative with a two-cent value included this portrait.[13][22] A stamp with a six-cent value was issued as part of theWashington Bicentennial stamps of 1932.[23][24] Finally, the Army and Navy Commemorative Series included a stamp with a one-cent value in 1936.[13][25]
On February 21, 1915,The New York Times published a full-page image of the painting with the caption "General Washington, painted from life by his staff officer and friend, Col. John Trumbull", in the Picture section, the first time inRotogravure.[26]
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