Investigating a Peale in Paris: A Joint Program of the Library Company of Philadelphia and the American Philosophical Society

Investigating a Peale in Paris

A Joint Program of the Library Company of Philadelphia and the American Philosophical Society

Presented at Benjamin Franklin Hall

427 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106

Thursday, July 6

Hybrid Event | Free; Registration Requested

5:30 pm: Reception

6:00 pm: Program 

A portrait of George Washington, leaning on a cannon on the battlefield at Princeton, has hung in the Paris residence of the American ambassador to France since the 1980s. Some credited the painting to Charles Willson Peale, but its execution appeared to fall short of many of Peale’s portraits. In 2019, the Department of State’s Office of Cultural Heritage commissioned a study to research the picture’s provenance, evaluate its appearance and condition, and determine the artist’s materials and techniques. Art historian Carol Soltis was enlisted for her experience with the work of Charles Willson Peale and conservator Emily MacDonald-Korth for her expertise in authenticating paintings using scientific methods. Join the American Philosophical Society and the Library Company of Philadelphia in welcoming Carol Soltis and Emily MacDonald-Korth as they recount the investigation that took them from Philadelphia to Washington, DC, and ultimately, to Paris as they chased the trail of clues to the painting’s identity and ultimately confirmed its status as a Peale painting.

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Photo credit: Longevity Art Preservation