1817

Portrait of Titian Ramsay Peale II (1799 - 1885)

American, 1774 - 1825

The eldest son of Charles Willson Peale and his second wife, Elizabeth DePeyster, Titian Ramsay Peale II (1799–1885) was named after his half brother, who died of yellow fever in 1798. Sharing his namesake’s dedication to natural science, he developed his skills as an artist and naturalist working on specimens in Peale’s Museum. He was elected to Philadelphia's Academy of Natural Sciences and invited to join their 1817–18 expedition to the Georgia Sea Islands and Florida. His half brother, Raphaelle, who was celebrated for his still life pictures but also painted miniatures, likely painted this portrait to commemorate Titian’s eighteenth birthday and his departure on the first of his many expeditions.