View of Mount Vernon with the Washington Family on the Piazza

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Not on view

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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