Portrait of a Portraitist
Charles Willson Peale (1741 – 1827) was an American painter who might best be known for paintings like this one, of George Washington:
And these, of Lewis and Clark:
But what I love about him are his many paintings of children, including his own. Here’s a really poignant one of his first wife, Rachel Brewer, weeping over their small daughter Margaret, who died of smallpox.
After bearing ten children, Rachel died, and Peale married Elizabeth dePeyster. She bore him seven more. Here are the names of his seventeen children. It’s heartbreaking how many of the children died so young, and some names appear twice (Margaret and Titian). Eleven of the children reached maturity. The final child, Elizabeth, is named after her mother, who died soon after giving birth. Once you hit child #5 (Raphaelle), all the kids are named after notable painters, including the girls, and naturalists and statesmen.
Margaret Jane, b. 1763 d. 1763
James Willson, b. 1765 d 1767
Eleanor, b. 1770 d 1770
Margaret Van Bordley, b. 1772 d 1772
Raphaelle, b. 1774 d. 1825
Angelica Kauffmann, b.1775 d 1853
Rembrandt, b. 1778 d. 1860
Titian Ramsay, b. 1780 d. 1798
Rubens, b. 1784 d. 1865
Sophonisba Augusciola, b. 1786 d. 1859
Rosalba Carriera, b. 1788 d. 1790
Vandyke, b. 1792 d. 1792
Charles Linnaeus, b. 1794 d. 1832
Benjamin Franklin, b. 1795 d. 1870
Sybilla Miriam, b. 1797 d. 1856
Titian Ramsay, b. 1799 d. 1885
Elizabeth DePeyster, b. 1802 d.?
Here’s a picture of many of the Peale children:
Peale married again in 1805.
http://yalepress.yale.edu/yupbooks/pd...
All images from Wikimedia
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