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THOMAS JEFFERSON IN 1803. AGE 60. PAINTED BY REMBRANDT PEALE.
From the original portrait painted by Rembrandt Peale, now owned by the New York Historical Society. Canvas, 24 by 30 inches. Rembrandt Peale, the second son of Charles Willson Peale, was born February 22, 1778, and died October 3, 1860. There are at least two portraits of Jefferson painted at the beginning of the century by "R." Peale which are known at the present day only through contemporary copper-plate engravings by David Edwin and Cornelius Tiebout. It is true that both Rembrandt and his elder brother, Raffaelle, were painting at this time, but as Raffaelle is known only as a painter of still-life and a few miniatures, the initial "R" on these engraved portraits of Jefferson must stand for Rembrandt. The earliest print, by Edwin, was published by J. Savage in 1800; and Tiebout's plate bears the imprint of Matthew Carey, Feb. 20, 1801. Early in this year Peale went abroad, and doubtless took with him impressions of Tiebout's plate; for in August there was published, in Paris, an engraving by Desnoyers from a drawing of the Tiebout print by Bouch, which has been repeatedly engraved on the other side, and is the Frenchman's portrait of Jefferson. These "R." Peale portraits of Jefferson have a special interest from the frequency with which they were engraved during Jefferson's lifetime. One of them, "Engraved by Harrison Junr.," was used in the Philadelphia edition (1801) of "Notes on Virginia," thus giving it the mark of Jefferson's approval. This, however, may not be of much value, in view of what Jefferson wrote to Joseph Delaplaine,—"There is nothing to which a man is so incompetent, as to judge of his own likeness." Peale returned home in 1803, and almost his first work after his return seems to have been to paint the portrait of Jefferson here reproduced. This picture shows plainly the benefit he derived from his experience abroad, for it is a beautifully painted portrait, being indeed the best example of Rembrandt Peale's work that I know. It was painted for the Peale Museum, and there it remained until the public sale of the collection in 1854, when it was bought by Mr. Thomas Jefferson Bryan, of Philadelphia, for $135. Later Mr. Bryan presented it, with his important collection of pictures, to the New York Historical Society.
