Mrs. Walter Stewart (Deborah McClenachan)
1782
Charles Willson Peale painted this portrait of Deborah McClenachan in 1782, right in the middle of the American Revolution's aftermath. She's decked out in a towering hairstyle and a shimmering green shawl, leaning against a table with a lute and apples—classic symbols of wealth and leisure. Peale wasn't just a painter; he was a naturalist who founded one of America's first museums, and he brings that observational detail here. The Neoclassical style was all the rage, mimicking ancient Roman simplicity, but Deborah's hair suggests she wasn't afraid of a little extra height!
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