Why Is This Painting Not More Famous?

This painting of George Washington with a horse’s ass is not as widely known and celebrated as other portraits of George Washington painted by the same painter, Gilbert Stuart.

The painting hangs on a wall in Faneuil Hall in Boston, Massachusetts. A copy hangs on a wall in Mechanics Hall, Worcester, Massachusetts. Perhaps other copies hang elsewhere.

The Worcester Telegraph published a photo of the painting in Mechanics Hall, visible next to a projected TV image of the inauguration of a later president, D. Trump, in January 2017:

Non-native English speakers may be unfamiliar with the phrase “horse’s ass”—a phrase that leaps to mind in many native English speakers when they see this painting.