Portrait of George Washington, 1772

This is the earliest-known authenticated portrait of George Washington. He is shown as a colonel (wearing his Virginia-Regiment uniform) which is the highest rank he achieved during the French and Indian War.

Charles Wilson Peale painted this work in 1772, about twelve years after Washington completed his service in that war and three years before he assumed command of the Continental Army (in 1775).

Credits

Portrait by Charles Wilson Peale, c. 1772.

Washington-Custis-Lee Collection (at Washington and Lee University) in Lexington, Virginia.

Image, Library of Congress.