Martha Washington (1731-1802)(Athenaeum portrait)
First Lady (1789-1797)
This is the only existing likeness of Martha Washington, wife of George Washington, by Gilbert Stuart. He painted it in 1796, together with a similarly unfinished portrait of her husband, and kept the two paintings until his death.
Gilbert Stuart (1755-1828)
Martha Washington defined her role as first lady as one of serving as the country's hostess. She held a "drawing room" every Friday during her husband's two-term presidency. She was somewhat uncomfortable in her role, describing herself as "an old-fashioned Virginia housekeeper." But she had acted as her husband's mainstay during the Revolutionary War and invested the position of first lady with great dignity.
Rembrandt Peale based this portrait on a 1795 original painted by his father, Charles Willson Peale.
Rembrandt Peale (1778-1860)
Oil on canvas, 1796
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Owned jointly with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
NPG.80.116
Enlarged image
Martha Washington (1731-1802)
First Lady (1789-1797)
Oil on canvas, probably 1853
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Gift of an anonymous
donor
NPG.75.3
Enlarged image
Copyright © 2000 Smithsonian Institution