George Washington (Lansdowne Portrait) by Gilbert Stuart

Washington stands in plain black velvet, one arm stretched out as if giving a speech, the other hand resting on a dress sword, not a battle sword. Many read that sword as a sign of a government of citizens, not a king or an army. Gilbert Stuart painted it in 1796, paid for by Senator William Bingham and his wife Anne as a gift for Lord Lansdowne in Britain. In 2001 the National Portrait Gallery bought it for $20 million. National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C.