Virtue Surmounts All Difficulties
Label Text
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.
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Date1720
After
Charles Le Brun
(French, 1619 - 1690)
Engraver
Pieter Stevens van Gunst
(Dutch, 1659 - 1724)
Geography
Made -
Netherlands
Medium/TechniqueInk on paper; engraving.
DimensionsOverall (H x W): 25 3/16 in. × 53 1/8 in. (64.01 cm × 134.98 cm)
Credit LineGift of Annie Burr Jennings, Vice Regent for Connecticut, 1936
Object numberW-717/D
DescriptionThis print is a depiction of the Battle of the Granicus River, with Alexander the Great on horseback at center, and behind him Cleitus brandishing his axe to save him from a Persian enemy.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), #406, 94.
MarkingsPrinted in ink below the bottom-left corner of the image: "C. le Brun pinxit. / P. V. Gunst sculps. et excudit."
Printed in ink below the bottom-right corner of the image: "R. et G. Wetstein / D. Motier / excudunt."
Printed in ink on the lower-left corner of the sheet: "Virtue Surmounts All Difficulties. / Alexander having pass'd the Granicus with unequal Forces attacks the / Persians and putts their numerous Army to the Rout."
Printed in ink on the lower edge, centered: "Virtus Omni Obice Maior. / Alexander superato Granico, Persas imparibus copiis aggneditur, / eorumque innumerabilem exercitum fundit."
Printed in ink on the lower-right corner of the image: "La Vertue Surmonte Tout Obstacle. / Alexander Ayant passe le Granique, attaque les Perses a forces inegales, / et met en fuite Leur innombrable multitude."
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