Rubens Peale was one of the children of artist and naturalist Charles Willson Peale. Named after the seventeenth-century Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens, he was small for his age, with poor eyesight, which prevented him from following the career of an artist. Remarkably successful with the care of plants and animals, Rubens instead became manager of the family's Philadelphia museum of art and science. By 1810 he was its administrative proprietor, and in 1825 he established his own Peale Museum in New York City. In this early portrait, his older brother Rembrandt Peale indicates the strong magnification of Peale's lenses, carefully depicting the way that they enlarge the corners of his eyes.

Rembrandt Peale (1778-1860)
Oil on canvas, 1807
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Gift of Mrs. James Burd Peale Green and Gallery purchase
NPG.86.212

Enlarged image

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