Sic Virtus et Victa Placet
George Washington amassed a rather large and sophisticated collection of prints during his lifetime. They included portraits of eminent persons, classical landscapes, and scenes from modern and ancient history, such as this series of five, massive line engravings detailing the triumphs of Alexander the Great. Washington likely kept these rare and expensive prints in a portfolio in his Study. It is not known when and from whom he might have acquired them.
Published ReferencesJoseph Manca, George Washington's Eye: Landscape, Architecture, and Design at Mount Vernon (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2012), 208, 285.
R. T. H. Halsey, "Prints Washington Lived at Mount Vernon," Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art 30 (March 1935): 65.
Centennial Celebration of the Inauguration of George Washington as First President of the United States. Committee on Art and Exhibition, Catalogue of the Loan Collection of Portraits, Relics, and Silverware Exhibited at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York, April 17th to May 8th, 1889, (New York: Trow's Printing and Bookbinding Company, 1889), 94.