Gilbert Stuart, a painter, is best known for his unfinished portrait of George Washington. His grave is located in the Central Burying Ground at Boston Common. It has a relief sculpture of a palette chained to a feather.
It reads:
"Gilbert Stuart
ARTIST
1755- 1828
Painter of the Portraits of
Washington, Louis XVI and Geo.III
This tablet placed by the Paint and Clay Club 1897"
Interestingly, although the family intended to move Stuart's body, it's exact location in this graveyard is unknown..but it has to be nearby since it is a small area.
Wikipedia (
visit link) has a photo of the marker and informs us:
"Gilbert Charles Stuart (born Stewart; December 3, 1755 – July 9, 1828) was an American painter from Rhode Island.
Gilbert Stuart is widely considered to be one of America's foremost portraitists. His best known work, the unfinished portrait of George Washington that is sometimes referred to as The Athenaeum, was begun in 1796 and never finished; Stuart retained the portrait and used it to paint 130 copies which he sold for $100 each. The image of George Washington featured in the painting has appeared on the United States one-dollar bill for over a century, and on various U.S. Postage stamps of the 19th century and early 20th century.
Throughout his career, Gilbert Stuart produced portraits of over 1,000 people, including the first six Presidents of the United States. His work can be found today at art museums across the United States and the United Kingdom, most notably the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Frick Collection in New York City, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the National Portrait Gallery, London, Worcester Art Museum in Massachusetts, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston...
Boston, 1805–1828
Stuart moved to Boston in 1805, continuing in critical acclaim and financial troubles. He lived on Devonshire Street. He exhibited works locally at Doggett's Repository and Julien Hall. He was sought out for advice by other artists such as John Trumbull, Thomas Sully, Washington Allston, and John Vanderlyn. In 1824 he suffered a stroke, which left him partially paralyzed. Nevertheless, Stuart continued to paint for two years until his death in Boston at the age of 72. He was buried in the Old South Burial Ground of the Boston Common. As Stuart left his family deeply in debt, his wife and daughters were unable to purchase a grave site. Stuart was therefore buried in an unmarked grave which was purchased cheaply from Benjamin Howland, a local carpenter. When Stuart's family recovered from their financial troubles roughly ten years later, they planned to move his body to a family cemetery in Newport, Rhode Island. However, since his family could not remember the exact location of Stuart's body, it was never moved."