View of Mount Vernon with the Washington Family on the Piazza
Date1796
Artist
Benjamin Henry Latrobe
(British, 1764 - 1820)
Subject
George Washington
(American, 1732 - 1799)
Subject
Martha Washington
(American, 1731 - 1802)
Subject
Eleanor Parke Custis Lewis
(American, 1779 - 1852)
Geography
Made -
United States
Medium/TechniqueInk, watercolor, and graphite on paper.
DimensionsOverall (unframed): 16 3/8 in. x 24 in. (41.59 cm x 60.96 cm)
Overall (framed): 25 3/4 in. x 33 3/8 in. x 2 1/2 in. (65.41 cm x 84.77 cm x 6.35 cm)
Credit LineAcquired through the generosity of an anonymous donor and collections funds, 2013
Object numberW-5307
DescriptionThis work on paper is a landscape composition depicting the Mount Vernon mansion from the northeast, showing the piazza front, with the Washington Family gathered on the piazza taking refreshment. In the background is a view of the Potomac River. The breakfast table is set with a silver hot water urn and china serving wares. SignedSigned in watercolor on the bottom right corner: "Benjamin Henry Latrobe".
Published ReferencesJulia A. Sienkewicz, Epic Landscapes: Benjamin Henry Latrobe and the Art of Watercolor, (Newark: University of Delaware Press, 2019).
Carol Borchert Cadou, Dining with the Washingtons (Wilmington: North Carolina University Press, 2011).
Margaret Brown Klapthor and Howard Alexander Morrison, George Washington: A Figure Upon the Stage (Washington, DC: The Smithsonian Institution Press, 1982), 214.
MarkingsIn watercolor on the bottom left corner of the sheet: "Benjamin Henry Latrobe nat. del. July 16th, 1796".
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c. 1850-1860
Probably 1929
c. 1856
c. 1800
February 16, 1842
February 16, 1842
c. 1850