Charles Willson Peale, "Staircase Group"

In this double portrait of two of his sons, painted by Charles Wilson Peale, Raphael, the older boy, ascends the stairs with his palette, brushes, and mall stick, while Titian Ramsey peeks around the corner of the door frame. Their expressions capture their ages. Titian Ramsey was only 14, and Raphael was beginning his career as an artist. Peale first exhibited the portrait in 1795, as we see it today, in a frame which unites the gallery space with the space of the canvas, fooling the viewer into believing the illusion. The lifelike scale of the figures, the high degree of detail and finish, and the careful use of light and shadow all enhance the immediacy of the subject. Years later, Charles Wilson's son, Rembrandt, would recall that even George Washington tipped his hat to these two young men on the stairs, mistakenly thinking they were real.