Ritratto Lansdowne

Stuart painted this in 1796, the year the 64-year-old Washington let it be known that he would not seek a third term as president, a decision that startled a world used to rulers who held on for life. The full-length pose is built around that idea. Washington stands in a plain black suit, one hand resting on a sword he is clearly setting aside, the other extended as if finishing a speech, with a rainbow breaking through the clouds behind him. The furniture carries small emblems of the young republic. It was commissioned by an American senator as a gift for a British statesman, so this image of a leader voluntarily giving up power travelled straight to London. Stuart, who found Washington a reluctant sitter, painted only the head from life.