Commemoration of George Washington
John James Barralet, Irish, 1747 - 1815
after Gilbert Stuart, American, 1755 - 1828
1800-1802
Stipple engraving on paper
Image: 23 11/16 × 18 1/2 in. (60.2 × 47 cm)
Plate: 25 5/16 × 19 7/8 in. (64.3 × 50.5 cm)
Sheet: 26 15/16 × 20 13/16 in. (68.4 × 52.8 cm)
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Purchased through the Robert J. Strasenburgh II 1942 Fund
2025.41
Geography
Place Made: United States, North America
Period
19th century
Object Name
Research Area
American History
On view
Label
Recalling the raising of Jesus Christ from the tomb, George Washington breaks free from the sepulcher. He is illuminated by divine light and guided into heaven by allegories of Fame and Time—notice his sickle and hourglass at the right. In the background, the Christian virtues of Faith (leaning on a cross), Hope (with arm raised), and Charity (caring for three small children) look on while symbols of America appear in the foreground. Beneath the eagle, a shield with sixteen stars represents the sixteen states in the union at the time of Washington’s death. Liberty holds a staff with a Phrygian cap, while a weeping Native American becomes an allegory for America in mourning. This figure serves as a fictional representation of an entire continent and flattens the diversity of Indigenous nations into a racist stereotype.
The merging of national symbols with religious iconography in images of George Washington began shortly after his death. How does this relationship between the nation and religion resonate with the present?
From the 2025-26 exhibition Revolution Reconsidered: History, Myth, and Propaganda, curated by Michael W. Hartman (Jonathan Little Cohen Curator of American Art), Haely Chang (Jane and Raphael Bernstein Associate Curator of East Asian Art), Elizabeth Rice Mattison (Andrew W. Mellon Curator of Academic Programming and Curator of European Art), Ashley B. Offill (Curator of Collections), and Evonne Fuselier (Hood Museum Board of Advisors Mutual Learning Fellow)
Exhibition History
Revolution Reconsidered: History, Myth, and Propaganda, Harteveldt Family Gallery and Owen Robertson Cheatham Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, October 18, 2025 - August 8, 2026.
Provenance
Private Collection, New Hampshire; consigned to New Hampshire Antique Co-op, Milford, New Hampshire; sold to present collection, 2025.
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