Matthias and Thomas Bordley, Circa 1771

In 1771, Charles Willson Peale painted this double portrait of Matthias and Thomas Bordley. The painting was commissioned by the boys’ father John Beale Bordley, who was Peale’s good friend and patron. Although the boys appear youthful and healthy, the painting is a posthumous homage to Thomas, Bordley’s eldest son. Thomas died from consumption in 1771 at the age of sixteen while studying at Eton College. From the inclusion of St. Paul’s Cathedral in the background to the stone carving of Minerva in the foreground, the composition is rife with subtle references to Thomas’ religious and academic prowess. In addition to showing his technical mastery of English portraiture, the painting exhibits Peale’s emotional sensitivity as a friend. Both Bordley and his wife Sarah would later have their portraits done by Peale. The painting of Matthias and Thomas descended in the Bordley family to Peggy Rockefeller who was a descendent of the sitters’ sister Elizabeth Bordley Gibson.