George Washington at Princeton

George Washington leans easily against a cannon after his victory at Princeton, captured British and Hessian flags heaped at his feet, his expression calm and assured. Charles Willson Peale, who knew the general and served in the war, paints him full-length as the confident hero of the new republic. Now at Princeton, it is one of the defining images of Washington from life - not yet the marble icon but a living commander in the field, the quiet embodiment of the Revolution's success and the dignity of its leadership.