George Taylor II, 1811 (oil on canvas)

This likeness of George Taylor II, a descendant of a signer of the Declaration of Independence, shows influences from both France and the United States. Rembrandt Peale admired the refined portrait style of such Neoclassical French painters as Baron Gérard. The subtle transitions in color and tone in Taylor’s head and hands reflect the impact of Gérard’s fine modeling and distinctive palette. The composition and details of this work suggest the American colonial and Federal portraits among which Peale had been raised. The setting—an open-air, stone alcove with a landscape scene—may well have been fictionalized, since similar views appeared with some regularity in American portraits of the colonial period.