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Catalog Data

Artist:
Charles Willson Peale, 15 Apr 1741 - 22 Feb 1827  Search this
Sitter:
Richard Henry Lee, 20 Jan 1732 - 19 Jun 1794  Search this
Medium:
Oil on canvas
Dimensions:
Stretcher: 75.6 x 63.8 x 3.2cm (29 3/4 x 25 1/8 x 1 1/4")
Frame: 88.3 x 75.6 x 5.4cm (34 3/4 x 29 3/4 x 2 1/8")
Type:
Painting
Date:
c. 1795-1805
Exhibition Label:
Born Stratford, Westmoreland County, Virginia
On June 7, 1776, it fell to Richard Henry Lee, delegate from Virginia at the Second Continental Congress, to offer the resolution that “these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States,” thereby initiating the Declaration of Independence. An aristocrat with an innate sense of his natural rights, Lee had long fought England’s attempts to undermine colonial liberties. He began his political career in the Virginia House of Burgesses, with a 1759 argument for an end to the slave trade because Black people were “equally entitled to liberty and freedom by the great law of nature.”
When Lee’s resolution was adopted by the Continental Congress in early July 1776, he was in Virginia, helping to form a new state government. Lee later returned to Philadelphia to sign the Declaration of Independence.
Nacido en Stratford, Westmoreland County, Virginia
El 7 de junio de 1776 le correspondió a Richard Henry Lee, delegado de Virginia en el Segundo Congreso Continental, presentar la resolución de que “estas Colonias Unidas son, y por derecho deben ser, Estados libres e independientes”, iniciando así la Declaración de Independencia.Aristócrata con un sentido innato de sus derechos naturales, Lee llevaba tiempo combatiendo los intentos ingleses de socavar las libertades coloniales. Comenzó su carrera política en la Cámara de Burgueses de Virginia, donde argumentó en 1759 que el tráfico de esclavos debía acabar porque las personas negras tenían “igual derecho a la libertad según la gran ley de la naturaleza”.
Cuando el Congreso Continental adoptó la resolución de Lee a principios de julio de 1776, él estaba en Virginia formando un nuevo gobierno estatal. Luego regresó a Filadelfia para firmar a Declaración de Independencia.
Provenance:
Duncan Lee, Toronto, and his son Gavin Dunbar Lee, descendants of sitter; gift 1974 to NPG
Contemporary replica of Peale’s museum version made for family.
Topic:
Interior  Search this
Richard Henry Lee: Male  Search this
Richard Henry Lee: Politics and Government\State Legislator\Virginia  Search this
Richard Henry Lee: Politics and Government\Congressman\Continental congressman  Search this
Richard Henry Lee: Politics and Government\Statesman\Colonial statesman\Signer of Declaration  Search this
Richard Henry Lee: Natural Resource Occupations\Agriculturist\Planter  Search this
Richard Henry Lee: Politics and Government\US Senator\Virginia  Search this
Portrait  Search this
Credit Line:
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Duncan Lee and his son, Gavin Dunbar Lee
Object number:
NPG.74.5
Restrictions & Rights:
CC0
See more items in:
National Portrait Gallery Collection
Exhibition:
Out of Many: Portraits from 1600 to 1900
On View:
NPG, East Gallery 142
Data Source:
National Portrait Gallery
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm41ccb0147-69cb-40f3-9cb1-378a4c7bcb26
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:npg_NPG.74.5