Visit+of+the+Prince+of+Wales,+President+Buchanan,+and+Dignitaries+to+the+Tomb+of+Washington+at+Mount+Vernon,+October+1860

Date: 1861
 * [[image:https://s3.amazonaws.com/saam.media/files/styles/x_large/s3/images/1906/1906.9.18_1a.jpg?itok=HxO0BILG width="582" height="293" link="@https://americanart.si.edu/artwork/visit-prince-wales-president-buchanan-and-dignitaries-tomb-washington-mount-vernon-october"]] ||
 * Title: **Visit of the Prince of Wales, President Buchanan, and Dignitaries to the Tomb of Washington at Mount Vernon, October 1860**

Artist: **Thomas P. Rossiter** Born: New Haven, Connecticut 1818 Died: Cold Spring, New York 1871

Medium: oil on canvas Dimensions: 27 1/4 x 54 3/8 in. (69.3 x 138.1 cm.) Smithsonian American Art Museum Bequest of Harriet Lane Johnston

Accession: 1906.9.18 || The prince and president, surrounded by various dignitaries, may be the focus of this group portrait, but it's the image of George Washington that makes this painting especially interesting. His profile is outlined in the clouds (hint: look in the middle of painting, between the two groups of trees), as if implying the first president's presence at the joint British/American visit to his tomb. The prince's visit to the Revolutionary War leader's grave in 1860 was celebrated as a sign of reconciliation between England and its former colonies.
 * Exhibition Label: **

Author R. J. de Cordova also wrote about Washington's presence during the visit in his 1861 poem, "The Prince's Visit: A Humorous Description":

Now I'm not superstitious, have no faith in ghosts; Don't believe in the rappings of angelic hosts; But that WASHINGTON'S spirit was there to receive This offering of peace, I am free to believe; And I know, if it witnessed the scene by that grace, That the soul of the great man forgot and forgave.

Baron Renfrew Captivates America Diagram and Notes for 'Visit of the Prince of Wales...' Famous Foreigners in Florence, 1400-1900 A Study of Washington Memorial Iconography Visit of the Prince of Wales in Young America
 * Related Resources: **

Artist Biography SAAM Collections Page Mount Vernon Wikipedia Entry Mount Vernon Ladies' Association Wikipedia Entry
 * Links: **