The Lansdowne portrait is a life-size portrait of George Washington painted by Gilbert Stuart in 1796. It depicts a 64-year-old Washington in his last year as President of the United States.Gilbert Stuart was born December 3, 1755, Saunderstown, Rhode Island colony [now in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, U.S.]—died July 9, 1828, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.), American painter who was one of the great portrait painters of his era and the creator of a distinctively American portrait style. Stuart grew up in Newport, Rhode Island, where he learned the rudiments of painting. In 1775 he went to London and entered the studio of the expatriate American artist Benjamin West, with whom he worked for about six years. The painting is known as the Lansdowne Portrait because it was a gift to the Marquis of Lansdowne, an English supporter of American independence. The portrait was a gift from William Bingham, a wealthy Philadelphian merchant and was intended to thank Lord Lansdowne for his financial support of the colonial cause during the American Revolutionary War. Gilbert Stuart’s Lansdowne Portrait of George Washington is more than just a portrait of the first president of the United States of America. It is instead a painting that represents not only Washington’s likeness, but also the aesthetic and political trappings of the office of the presidency and of the New Republic. Utilizing all of the traditions of European Grand Manner portraiture, it became the standard full-length political likeness of Washington throughout the Federalist period. It marks a new beginning sort of say, a way to show that they were able to make it no matter what was thrown at them. It's also a model of what an American should be like, Washington's position in the painting is to show other American what they should be like as an American.