Dear readers, do you ever look up in Mullen Library and notice a blank spot on the wall? Was anything displayed there, if ever? And if there was once something there, what happened to it? Well…

The portrait of George Washington by Gilbert Stuart, which His Eminence Cardinal Spellman presented to the Catholic University in memory of Patrick Cardinal Hayes has arrived at the University.

So begins a letter dated July 17, 1947 sent from the office of Catholic University Procurator, Rev. James Magner, to St. Patrick’s Cathedral Rector in New York. In the same letter, Magner notes that the University had not yet removed the portrait from its shipping crate nor selected the optimal site for its installation.

Within months of this letter, the painting would be firmly placed in the John K. Mullen of Denver Library, affixed to the north wall of the main reading room. The portrait was joined with a similar life-size portrait of James Cardinal Gibbons, which hung on the opposite (south) side of the reading room. From these vantage points, Washington and Gibbons could watch over generations of Cardinals as they represented the dual nature of the University – Catholic and American.

While Gibbons continues to watch over the reading room, Washington is noticeably absent. Where is George today?!

From 1947-2015, Washington hovered over the north face of the reading room, until conservation issues necessitated the painting’s removal to storage. So mystery solved, right? Alas, that is not the true mystery of Washington. The true mystery was reignited when University staff began to explore conservation efforts into the piece – who truly painted the portrait?

I wonder whether you have any information that you could let me have relative to the history and authenticity of the portrait of George Washington by Gilbert Stuart, which His Eminent Cardinal Spellman was so generous as to present to the Catholic University. –
Rev. Magner to New York, Sept. 24, 1947

When originally donated, the painting was thought to be the famous 1796 Lansdowne Portrait by Gilbert Stuart or a Stuart sanctioned copyist. But by the late 1960s, doubt began to creep into the picture. The museum inventories from 1951 and 1981 illustrate this shift, with the former directly stating it was a Stuart and the latter indicating that it is “after Stuart (attributed by some to Stuart)”.

This information, however, slipped away from the popular consciousness of the campus. The Gilbert Stuart original entered campus lore like the Exorcism Room or Dorothy Dress, with tours and literature often making this claim. However, as 2015 dawned and new research began into the painting for its conservation, it was soon realized that it may be one of possibly four or five rogue copies by artist William Winstanley. A fascinating character in his own right, Winstanley is infamous for boldly creating unauthorized duplicates of Stuart’s works. These works have often been difficult to differentiate from the authentic pieces, partly as a result of lost provenance and a desire for institutions to claim a Stuart original. Even the authorship of the copy held in the White House has been the subject of debate for over 200 years!

What we do know about the copy held on campus is that it belonged to The Catholic Club of New York, before being donated to Catholic University by Francis Cardinal Spellman. It hang for nearly 70 years, with a variety of attributions over the decades. It is now safely in storage, awaiting conservation and future exhibits. And perhaps the mystery of its authorship is solved! Evidence strongly suggests Winstanley, but we await a day where we can display it once again for audiences to weigh the evidence themselves.

Learn more about the other Washington items held in Special Collections here.

You may also learn more about the ongoing debates about the White House Washington portrait (and how CatholicU’s copy may be used in solving the question) by reading:

Evans, Dorinda. “William Winstanley (fl1791–1808) Gilbert Stuart’s Shadow and a Swindling Genius.” The British Arts Journal 20, no. 3 (Winter 2019/2020): 98-110.