Painting (Portrait)

Museum Object Number 1967.0277 A

Object Name

Painting (Portrait)

Title

Eleuthera du Pont Smith (Mrs. Thomas McKie Smith)

Category

Paintings

Credit Line/Donor

Gift of Mr. John Irving Woodriff

Creator (Role)

Rembrandt Peale (Artist)

Date of Birth

02/22/1778

Date of Death

10/03/1860

Place of Origin

Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Mid-Atlantic, United States, North America

Date

1830-1831

Subjects

Portrait

Materials

Oil paint; Canvas

Techniques

Painted

Dimensions (inches)

30.25 (H) , 25.125 (W)

Dimensions (centimeters)

76.84 (H) , 63.818 (W)

Measurement Notes

Framed dimensions 33 x 27 1/2".

Object Description

Web - 04/28/2025

Rembrandt Peale's 1831 portrait of Eleuthera du Pont, sister of Victorine, represents Rembrandt's mature style evident in his self-portrait of 1828. The clearly defined outline of her face and nose contrast with the soft focus of her fur shawl, which bleeds into the glowing background. Rembrandt was known for choosing his sitters' dress and accessories and deemed the fur shawl key to the picture's success. The portrait was completed after the artist returned from a two-year study trip to Naples with his son Michael Angelo, named, as he and his siblings were, after a European Old Master painter. Rembrandt's primary interest as a painter was with color, and this trip confirmed his lifelong interest in Italian painters of the past such as Raphael, Titian, and Correggio.

Bibliography and Bibliographic Notes

[Book] Hutchins, Catherine E. 2000 The du Pont Family: Two Hundred Years of Portraits.
• Published on p. 21.
[Book] Miller, Lillian B. 1992 In Pursuit of Fame: Rembrandt Peale, 1778-1860. 320 p.
• Published on pp. 214-15.