[George Washington, 1732-1799. Foreign portraits. Full, standing, facing right]

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This full-length portrait shows Washington standing and turned to the right, a pose that European artists often used to give American leaders a heroic, classical bearing. The record places it among the "foreign portraits" in the Library's collection, meaning it was made outside the United States, probably in Europe. Lithography, a printing method based on the chemical repulsion of grease and water, was invented in Germany in the late 1790s and spread widely through the following decades, so the print most likely dates from the nineteenth century. Its makers often worked from earlier American likenesses, which means the figure may reflect a European idea of Washington as much as his actual appearance.

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