George Washington (Lansdowne portrait) by Gilbert Stuart, oil on canvas, 1796National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution (http://www.georgewashington.si.edu/portrait/non-flash.html) December 1, 2008

Essential Question

• Why is the Lansdowne portrait of George Washington such an iconic representation of the American presidency?

First Approach to Analysis

• Divide painting in quadrants.• Examine each quadrant.• Only “discover” at this point.• WHAT DO YOU SEE?• SAVE WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR LATER

What does this mean?

Use the Painting Analysis Worksheet to write what you think your assigned symbol means.

Gesture and Figure

Face

Clothing

Sword

Table (Leg)

Chair

On June 14, 1777, in order to establish an official flag for the new nation, the Continental Congress passed the first Flag Act: "Resolved, That the flag of the United States be made of thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation."

15 star, 15 stripe banner from 1795 (admission of Vermont and Kentucky). “Star Spangled Banner”

Books on the Table

FederalistJournal of Congress

General Orders, American Revolution

Constitution and Bylaws

Books on the floor

Inkwell

Dogs standing guard at the corners of the inkwell would remind classically educated viewers of Plutarch's observation: They symbolize “the conservative watchful, philosophical principle of life.”

The inkwell displays the Washington family coat of arms, the crest of which George Washington changed from a raven to a griffin (a mythological creature with the body of a lion and the head of a hawk).

Rainbow

Dark Clouds

Portico

Essential Question

• Why is the Lansdowne portrait of George Washington such an iconic representation of the American presidency?

• Write a one sentence answer to this question on the post-it note on your table and post your answer around the picture on the board.