In Philadelphia, master artist Charles Willson Peale seeks to paint Meriwether Lewis‘s portrait. (He would paint both captains’ portraits in early 1807.) He also discusses Thomas Jefferson‘s proposal to elevate his museum to a ‘national establishment’.
Meriwether Lewis (1807)
by Charles Willson Peale
Oil on canvas, original size, 23 x 18¾ inches. Independence National Historic Park
The Captains’ Portraits
Museum Decr. 24th. 1806
Dear Sir
Mr. Lewis is richly entitled to a place amongst the Portraits of the Museum, and I hope he will do me the favor of sitting as soon as he arrives here. It can scarcely be beleived that I should now paint much better than when I was much younger & in constant practice, but my judgement is ripened; I produce a better effect, which is of greater importance than a neat Pensilling, and I have more knowledge of colouring than I had 30 years past.
Peale’s Museum
I am much obliged to you for your wishes to render my Museum a national establishment, every addition that is made, is done with a view to a permancy, and the order we are persuing will certainly bring it into high estimation with the public. had I known more in the commencement, infinite labour might have been saved, however with diligence it may be put into good arrangement before the time that it can become a public charge. and I beleive it will be easey then to raise it to vast importance, and the donations may equal in value the cost of its annual maintainance. It would be a great gratification to me to see you examining & giving your advice for its improvement.
I am Dear Sir with much esteem your friend
CW Peale[1]Charles Willson Peale to Thomas Jefferson, Founders Online, National Archives, founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/99-01-02-4744.
Notes
| ↑1 | Charles Willson Peale to Thomas Jefferson, Founders Online, National Archives, founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/99-01-02-4744. |
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- The Lewis and Clark Expedition: Day by Day by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 2018). The story in prose, 14 May 1804–23 September 1806.
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