Portrait of George Washington (The Port Hole Portrait) (see Peters p. 310)

Peale's own description of painting the famous 'Port Hole' portrait of Washington is as follows: 'After the death of Washington in December, 1799, his family and friends grieved that there was no portrait of him which conveyed an adequate idea of his mild, thoughtful and dignified, yet firm and energetic countenance...Neither satisfied sith my father's, nor Trumbull's, nor Pine's, nor Wertmuller's, nor Stuart's, nor my own...I determined in 1823 to make a last effort; andin an excitement even beyond the poetic frenzy which controlled me during three months to the exclusion of every other thought, and to the grief of my father who considered it a hopeless effort, I succeeded to his conviction, and he hastened to bring Judge Tilghman to confirm his declaration that my portrait was the best he had ever seen.' (quoted in The Life Portraits of Washington and Their Replicas, by John Hill Morgan and Mantle Fielding, Philadelphia, 1931, page 370.)