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222:." in 1910. It was passed down to her elder son, Edward Brooke II, in 1912; then passed down to his eldest son, George Brooke III, in 1940. George Brooke III married a cousin, who was also a descendant of Frederick Muhlenberg. Virginia Muhlenberg Brooke (his widow) lent the Speaker's portrait to the
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and in the process of signing House Bill 65, "An Act to regulate Trade and
Intercourse with the Indian Tribes," which Muhlenberg signed on July 20, 1790. Wright is presumed to have painted the portrait in New York City, either toward the end of the First Congress's Second Session (January 4, 1790 –
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of his wife, Catharine
Schaeffer Muhlenberg. This followed the same line of descent as the Speaker's portrait, owned by the family of Mrs. George Brooke in 1910. "Brookewood," the George Brooke mansion in Birdsboro, burned on Christmas Day, 1917. The pendant portrait had remained unpublished since
258:. The artist changed the color of the Speaker's chair upholstery, changed the portrait's background, and gave Muhlenberg a ruddy complexion. Waugh's copy was donated to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1881. It hangs in the Speaker's Lobby, just outside the Speaker's Office.
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Muhlenberg served four consecutive terms in
Congress, and also was elected the third Speaker of the House, a position he held from December 2, 1793 to March 4, 1795. He chose not to run for a fifth term, and retired from Congress on March 4, 1797.
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August 12, 1790) or in the recess between the Second and Third
Sessions. The Speaker's portrait is the only known life image of Frederick Muhlenberg, and the only known image of the interior of Federal Hall.
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The rediscovery of the
Catharine Muhlenberg portrait was announced in 2018. It had survived the 1917 fire, and been passed down to George Brooke III's first cousin, Elizabeth Muhlenberg Brooke Blake, of
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Joseph Wright (1756, Bordentown, New Jersey – 1793, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) was a portrait painter who worked in
Philadelphia and New York City. He studied under
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120:(1750, Trappe, Pennsylvania – 1801, Lancaster, Pennsylvania) was a Pennsylvania minister and politician. He was educated in Germany, and graduated from the
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convened in New York City on March 4, 1789. On April 1, 1789, its members elected
Muhlenberg the first Speaker of the House, a position he held until the
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Museum in Trappe, the family home of
Frederick and Catharine Muhlenberg and their seven children at the time the portraits were painted.
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on
December 11, 1787. Eleven of the thirteen states had ratified the document by summer 1788—more than a three-quarters majority—and
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in Paris, and returned to
America in 1782 with a glowing recommendation from Franklin. He painted five life portraits of General
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minister in Pennsylvania in 1770, and served as pastor for churches in southeastern Pennsylvania and New York City.
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from 1780 to 1783. He was elected Chairman of the Pennsylvania State Constitutional Convention, which ratified the
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in uniform, was commissioned by Congress to model a bust of Washington, and designed early U.S. coinage.
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owns a circa-1838 copy of Wright's Frederick Muhlenberg portrait. Unsigned, but attributed to artist
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Muhlenberg commissioned Wright to paint his portrait. It depicts him seated in the Speaker's chair at
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1910, and scholar Monroe H. Fabian presumed (in 1970) that it had been lost in the 1917 fire.
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305:. Blake died at age 100 in 2016, and the portrait was subsequently found in the attic of her
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George M. Meiser and Gloria Jean Meiser, "The Birdsboro Mansion of Edward and Anne Brooke,"
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Charles Henry Hart, "An Original Portrait of Doctor Franklin Painted by Joseph Wright,"
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The Speaker's portrait descended through the Muhlenberg family, and was owned by "
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539:, from History, Art & Archives, United States House of Representatives.
527:, from History, Art & Archives, United States House of Representatives.
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house. Blake's sons have placed the pendant portrait on long-term loan to
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certified the U.S. Constitution on September 3, 1788. Pennsylvania held a
562:"Man gives time and effort to conserve portrait of Frederick Muhlenberg,"
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477:, (Reading, PA: Historical Society of Berks County, 2005), pp. 224–39.
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Monroe H. Fabian, "Joseph Wright's Portrait of Frederick Muhlenberg,"
272:, it was donated to the museum by a Muhlenberg descendant in 2007.
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to paint a copy of Wright's Frederick Muhlenberg portrait for the
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395:"Joseph Wright, US Designer of Liberty Cap Large and Half Cents,"
230:. The National Portrait Gallery purchased it from her in 1974.
366:, from Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
288:(c. 1790), The Speaker's House Museum, Trappe, Pennsylvania.
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Frederick Muhlenberg (c.1838), attributed to Jacob Eicholtz
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246:(1881, after Joseph Wright), U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C.
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in London, and was the first American to graduate from the
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Paintings in the National Portrait Gallery (United States)
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on November 26, 1788, and Muhlenberg was elected to the
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He served as a representative from Pennsylvania to the
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Lisa Minardi, "Rediscovering the Muhlenberg Family,"
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380:The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography
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364:Frederick Augustus Conrad Muhlenberg (1750–1801)
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226:in 1968, for its inaugural exhibition in the
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149:Congress Under the Articles of Confederation
107:Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives
499:, vol. 17, no. 2 (Summer 2018), pp. 110–15.
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455:Henrietta Meier Oakley and J. C. Schwab,
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191:. He painted several life portraits of
122:University of Halle (Universität Halle)
614:Paintings in the United States Capitol
510:This New Man: A Discourse on Portraits
459:, (New Haven, CT: Tuttle Press, 1910).
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604:New York City as the National Capital
423:Profile Portrait of George Washington
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525:Frederick Augustus Conrad Muhlenberg
335:Frederick Augustus Conrad Muhlenberg
244:Frederick Augustus Conrad Muhlenberg
94:Frederick Augustus Conrad Muhlenberg
23:Frederick Augustus Conrad Muhlenberg
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216:the family of Mrs. George Brooke
141:Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly
67:47 1/16 x 37 in (119.54 x 94 cm)
167:was sworn in on March 4, 1791.
101:, now in the collection of the
286:Catharine Schaeffer Muhlenberg
16:1790 painting by Joseph Wright
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475:The Passing Scene, Volume 13
206:in New York City, holding a
551:, from The Speaker's House.
537:Speaker Portrait Collection
153:U.S. Congressional election
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609:1st United States Congress
250:Pennsylvania commissioned
228:Old Patent Office Building
224:National Portrait Gallery
135:in 1779 and 1780, and as
103:National Portrait Gallery
97:is a portrait of 1790 by
76:National Portrait Gallery
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599:Portraits of politicians
565:The Spring-Ford Reporter
497:Antiques & Fine Art
157:Pennsylvania delegation
589:18th-century portraits
508:J. Benjamin Townsend,
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441:The Magazine Antiques
307:Newport, Rhode Island
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189:Royal Academy of Arts
457:The Muhlenberg Album
425:, from Mount Vernon.
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266:Trappe, Pennsylvania
165:Second U.S. Congress
159:. The newly-created
133:Continental Congress
124:. He was ordained a
118:Frederick Muhlenberg
311:The Speaker's House
262:The Speaker's House
242:Samuel Bell Waugh,
161:First U.S. Congress
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264:Museum in
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208:quill pen
83:Accession
175:Portrait
126:Lutheran
86:NPG.74.1
72:Location
139:of the
137:Speaker
234:Copies
113:Sitter
56:Medium
38:Artist
397:from
218:, of
183:and
51:1790
48:Year
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