"The frame, magnificently ornate and gilded, was intended for royalty and originally surrounded a portrait of British King George II that hung in the college's Nassau Hall."
"During the Battle of Princeton, a cannonball flew into the building and destroyed the king's portrait. The frame, however, was saved, and the artist's portrayal of George Washington painted exactly to fit it."
"We fought a long and bloody revolution to step out from under that crown, because we did not- do not -want a king."
"Following the Revolution, Washington was urged by many to claim enduring power, but he refused, resigning his commission in 1783."
Charles Willson Peale's painting of George Washington at the Battle of Princeton has been reinterpreted in light of contemporary debates over democracy and historical memory. Originally celebrated as a symbol of American founding ideals, the painting now acknowledges the tensions between those ideals and the realities of the early republic. The ornate frame, originally intended for King George II, was modified to remove the crown, symbolizing the nation's rejection of monarchy and Washington's refusal of enduring power after the Revolution.
Read at Artnet News
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