Object Details
- Artist
- Unidentified Artist
- Copy after
- Gilbert Stuart, 3 Dec 1755 - 9 Jul 1828
- Sitter
- Martha Dandridge Custis Washington, 2 Jun 1731 - 22 May 1802
- Exhibition Label
- Born Chestnut Grove, Virginia
- First Lady 1789–1797
- Martha Dandridge Custis married George Washington in 1759, shortly after the death of her first husband, Daniel Park Custis. At twenty-seven, she had two young children in tow and had amassed tremendous wealth. Owning more than seventeen thousand acres of land, she and her family relied on a large, enslaved workforce, which at one point included her half-sister, Ann Dandridge.
- George Washington served as a general in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War (1775–83), and the couple often stayed together in the winter encampments. In the years that followed the war, Martha Washington left her pleasant life at their Mount Vernon plantation to support her husband while he served as president.
- Gilbert Stuart painted Martha Washington from life in 1796, when the presidential couple was living in Philadelphia, which was then the nation’s capital. This painting is a copy based on Stuart’s original study, the “Athenaeum” portrait.
- Nacida en Chestnut Grove, Virginia
- Primera dama 1789–1797
- Martha Dandridge Custis se casó con George Washington en 1759, poco después de morir su primer marido, Daniel Park Custis. A la edad de 27 años, tenía dos hijos pequeños y había amasado una gran fortuna. Dueños de más de 17,000 acres de tierra, ella y su familia mantenían una numerosa fuerza laboral esclava, incluida en un momento su media hermana, Ann Dandridge.
- George Washington fue general del Ejército Continental durante la Guerra de Independencia de EE.UU. (1775–83), y su esposa solía acompañarlo en los campamentos durante el invierno. Tras la guerra, Martha Washington abandonó su vida placentera en la plantación de Mount Vernon para apoyar a su marido en sus funciones de presidente.
- Gilbert Stuart pintó a Martha Washington del natural en 1796, cuando ella y el presidente vivían en Filadelfia, entonces capital de la nación. Esta pintura es una copia basada en la original de Stuart, conocida como “retrato del Ateneo”.
- Provenance
- (Edward Speelman, London); purchased 1970 by NPG.
- Credit Line
- National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
- early-mid 19th century
- Object number
- NPG.70.3
- Restrictions & Rights
- CC0
- Type
- Painting
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- Stretcher: 76.2 × 64.8 × 1.6 cm (30 × 25 1/2 × 5/8")
- Frame: 92.1 × 79.7 × 8.9 cm (36 1/4 × 31 3/8 × 3 1/2")
- See more items in
- National Portrait Gallery Collection
- Location
- Currently not on view
- National Portrait Gallery
- Topic
- Costume\Headgear\Hat\Bonnet
- Martha Dandridge Custis Washington: Female
- Martha Dandridge Custis Washington: Politics and Government\First Lady\First Lady of US
- Portrait
- Record ID
- npg_NPG.70.3
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm4ddac5056-e36f-4434-a82d-d382f40dea69
