Rembrandt Peale (1778-1860, American) was the son of Charles Wilson Peale, the esteemed portrait painter and founder of America’s first museum. Rembrandt Peale was a successful painter in France and the United States. He painted portraits of many early national leaders during the 19th century, including one of the finest paintings of Thomas Jefferson. He also created the Baltimore Museum. The Madonna della sedia, copied here by Peale in 1830, is a painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael, dating to ca. 1513-1514 and housed in the Palazzo Pitti collection in Florence. It depicts Mary embracing the child Christ, while the young John the Baptist devoutly watches.
