Portret van George Washington, eerste president van de Verenigde Staten 1805

This is a portrait of George Washington, the first president of the United States, made by Ludwig Gottlieb Portman. While the exact date is unknown, Portman was active in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. This print, likely an engraving, speaks to the proliferation of imagery in the service of nation-building. In the newly formed United States, figures like Washington needed to be visually established in the public imagination. The artistic conventions used here - the oval frame, the classical garb, the solemn expression - all contribute to an image of authority and virtue, linking Washington to a lineage of great leaders. The image is not necessarily revolutionary, but it reflects the desire to create a stable and respectable image for a new nation, a project in which art and visual culture played a crucial role. Historians use sources like letters, newspapers, and political pamphlets to understand how these images circulated and what meanings they held for different audiences. Art, then, is never neutral; it's a reflection of the values, aspirations, and power dynamics of a given society.