The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 29, no. 7 (March, 1971)

4. William Bingham, by Gilbert
Stuart. Probably painted at the time,
Stuart was working on the fulllength
Washingtons, this portrait
is closely related in size, relation of
figure to space, and degree of
finish to the portrait of Noailles.
Bingham, after whom Binghamton,
New York, is named, was owner of
extensive lands, including one
million acres in the State of Maine
that he sold to the Baring brothers.
Oil on canvas, 45 x 35 inches.
Baring Brothers and Company,
Limited, London
5. Louis-Marie, Vicomte de
Noailles, by Gilbert Stuart. Painted
in Philadelphia, the portrait has
remained until recently in the
possession of the Noailles family
in France. Signed and dated
(lower left): G. Stuart 1798. Oil on
canvas, 50 x 40 inches. Henry R.
Luce Gift, Elihu Root, Jr., Bequest,
Rogers Fund, Maria DeWitt Jesup
Fund, Morris K. Jesup Fund, and
Charles and Anita Blatt Gift,
1970. 262
and the Comte de Noailles kindly furnished a superb silver-mounted rapier,
which he brought himself, and presented it to Stuart, saying that it might be useful
in painting other portraits of Washington." Mrs. Stuart later melted down the
silver hilt and had spoons made from it. Indeed, the same rapier appears in all
the different renditions of the Lansdowne and Lenox Washingtons. Gustavus
Eisen in his highly detailed study, Portraits of Washington, differentiated between
the rather stubby and clumsy figure in the Lansdowne picture (posed for by Stuart's
landlord Smith, or by Alderman Keppele) and the elegant swordsman's pose
in the Lenox version, which he attributed to the use of Noailles as model. Eisen
thought Noailles's figure too slim to represent Washington, and on this ground
suggests Stuart painted the Lenox version first, then switched to the heavier Smith
or Keppele to produce the later Lansdowne painting. The point is minor since
Stuart produced several replicas of both pictures. The ornate and pompous composition
of the series is freely based on Hyacinthe Rigaud's portrait of Bossuet,
probably known to Stuart in a print (Figure 1), and it is interesting that in 1797,
as the portraits were progressing, Noailles wrote to the tutor and guardian of his
children living in Paris that they should read Bossuet to learn eloquence, which
"is the strongest weapon one can exercise under a representative government."
At some moment before 1800, when William Bingham and Stuart argued and
parted ways over the copyright of the Lansdowne portrait, Stuart produced a
little-known but excellent portrait of Bingham (Figure 4), shown in his role as
United States Senator or imposing businessman. The picture is rare in Stuart's
work for its small scale (the figure is twenty-seven inches high), but it belongs
with the large Washingtons as a successful example of Stuart's full-blown and
detailed portraits d'apparats.
Under the spell of friendship with Stuart and presumably impressed by the
Washington full-lengths and Bingham's portrait, Noailles posed in 1798 for the
picture just acquired by the Museum (back cover and Figure 5). The picture is only
five inches in each dimension larger than the Bingham portrait, and is the only
other known finished Stuart of this size and figure scale. Noailles is shown in a
commanding pose atop a bluff prepared to mount his horse. To the right is his
already mounted body servant and in the distance, somewhat obscured by the
dramatic sweep of smoke that circles above Noailles, is his cavalry in passing
parade. The Vicomte is dressed as brigadier general commanding the first regiment
of Chasseurs a Cheval d'Alsace, originally the fifteenth regiment of Boufflers
Dragons, which Noailles joined in 1788 when the unit's name changed. The dark
green uniform coat with scarlet facings was prescribed in the 1789 dress regulation,
and his furry "caterpillar" helmet was prescribed in 1791. The bright scarlet
and gold waistcoat and gold braid denotes Noailles's rank as general. His saber of
the Polish "karabela" type was a nonregulation weapon. Noailles must have taken
the uniform with him to the United States, which suggests that it was the one he
wore during his campaigns in the north of France. The generalized landscape is
hard to identify exactly but it could possibly depict Colmar, where Noailles put
down the 1791 insurrection, or a romanticized view of Sedan, where he was commandant
in late 1791. In the foreground is an emblematic accumulation of thistles,
snake, and horse's skull, which probably symbolizes war: thistles usually
grow in untilled or barren fields, and the skull and snake form the traditional me-