Lansdowne portrait

George Washington (Lansdowne portrait of George Washington)
The copy of the portrait as displayed in the White House
Artist	Gilbert Stuart
Year	1796
Medium	Oil on canvas
Dimensions	243.8 cm × 152.4 cm (8 ft × 5 ft)
Location	National Portrait Gallery (United States)

The Lansdowne portrait is an iconic oil-on-canvas portrait of George Washington, the first President of the United States. The portrait was painted by Gilbert Stuart in April 12, 1796 and commissioned by Senator William Bingham of Pennsylvania—one of the wealthiest men in the U.S. at the time—and his wife, Anne.

The portrait measures 8 by 5 feet (2.44 by 1.52 m) and was given as a gift of appreciation to British Prime Minister, born William Petty FitzMaurice; the second Earl of Shelburne and subsequently the first Marquess of Lansdowne. Petty-FitzMaurice was an American sympathizer who supported independence of the colonies in Parliament. He succeeded in securing peace with America during his term as Prime Minister of Great Britain. The Lansdowne portrait was completed in the fall of that year by American artist Gilbert Stuart (who made several other portraits of George Washington, and many others of prominent American revolutionaries). The painting shows Washington at 64 years of age renouncing a third term as U.S. President.

It is on permanent display at the National Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution. Replicas painted by Stuart are on display in the East Room of the White House, the Old State House in Hartford, Connecticut, and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts Museum. Additional copies painted by other artists are displayed in the U.S. House Chamber, the Rayburn room of the Capitol, and the Maryland Historical Society in Baltimore.