25 Facts About Rembrandt Peale

Rembrandt Peale was an American artist and museum keeper.

Rembrandt Peale's father was a notable artist, and named him after the noted 17th-century Dutch painter and engraver Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn.

Rembrandt Peale's father taught all of his children, including Raphaelle Peale, Rubens Peale, and Titian Peale, to paint scenery and portraiture, and tutored Rembrandt in the arts and sciences.

In 1795, at the age of 17, Rembrandt Peale painted an aging Washington, making him appear far more aged than in reality.

The portrait was well received, and Rembrandt Peale had made his debut.

In 1822, Rembrandt Peale moved to New York City, where he embarked on an attempt to paint what he hoped would become the "standard likeness" of Washington.

Rembrandt Peale studied portraits by other artists including John Trumbull, Gilbert Stuart and his own father, as well as his own 1795 picture which had never truly satisfied him.

Rembrandt Peale's resulting work Patriae Pater, completed in 1824, depicts Washington through an oval window, and is considered by many to be second only to Gilbert Stuart's iconic Athenaeum painting of the first president.

Rembrandt Peale subsequently attempted to capitalize on the success of what quickly became known as his "Porthole" picture.

Rembrandt Peale went on to create over 70 detailed replicas, including one of Washington in full military uniform that currently hangs in the Oval Office.

Rembrandt Peale continued to paint other noted portraits, such as those of the third president Thomas Jefferson while he was in office, and later on a portrait of Chief Justice John Marshall.

Rembrandt Peale's father helped pay his way to Paris, where he stayed from June to September 1808, and again from October 1809 to November 1810.

In Paris, Rembrandt Peale studied the works of Jacques-Louis David, which influenced him to paint in the Neoclassical style.

Rembrandt Peale painted the famous explorer Alexander von Humboldt and several other noted patrons such as Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac and Francois Andre Michaux.

Rembrandt Peale had acquired an important gas lighting patent, and with some associates founded the successful Gas Light Company of Baltimore.

In 1828, an ambitious Rembrandt Peale raised funds and tried earning money for his previous paintings, in order to travel to Rome.

Rembrandt Peale took along his 15-year-old son, Michael Angelo, a determined young artist who copied his father's paintings in admiration.

At the age of 82, Rembrandt Peale died on October 3,1860, at his house on 1506 Vine St in Philadelphia.

Rembrandt Peale is buried at Woodlands Cemetery in West Philadelphia.

In 1801, Rembrandt Peale painted a portrait of his brother Rubens, youngest of the six Rembrandt Peale children, who always had an admiration for gardening and tending to natural life.

Rembrandt Peale's painting, Smell is quite similar to Rembrandt Peale's.

Nonetheless, Rembrandt Peale received commendations for his portrait by many noted politicians such as Washington's nephew, Judge Bushrod Washington, who was an associate US Supreme Court Justice, and Marshall.

Rembrandt Peale's neoclassical painting The Roman Daughter demonstrates compassion and graceful defense; his copy of Correggio's Angel, and his immense allegorical painting, Court of Death, reveal the same artistic style.

Rembrandt Peale painted portraits of many notable people, including American presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, Chief Justice John Marshall, and John C Calhoun.

Later, the gallery further examined the history behind the painting: the English comedian, Charles Mathews, had arrived in New York in 1822, and left shortly after Rembrandt Peale had welcomed him for a portrait painting.