The Sisters (Eleanor and Rosalba Peale)

Rembrandt Peale

Brooklyn Museum photograph

Brooklyn Museum photograph

1 of 2

Object Label

In this glowing image of two of his nine children, Rembrandt Peale paid equal tribute to their sisterly love and to their own embrace of artistic pursuits. Pressed against each other, with arms delicately linked, Rosalba Peale and Eleanor Peale Jacobs sit before a tapestry-covered table on which a palette and volume of music rest. The talented Rosalba, a constant aid in her father’s work, holds a drawing tool in her hand.

Caption

Rembrandt Peale (American, 1778–1860). The Sisters (Eleanor and Rosalba Peale), 1826. Oil on canvas, 42 1/8 x 32 11/16 in. (107 x 83 cm) frame: 54 5/8 x 45 3/16 x 5 in. (138.7 x 114.8 x 12.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, A. Augustus Healy Fund, 67.205.3. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)

Gallery

Not on view

Collection

American Art

Title

The Sisters (Eleanor and Rosalba Peale)

Date

1826

Medium

Oil on canvas

Classification

Painting

Dimensions

42 1/8 x 32 11/16 in. (107 x 83 cm) frame: 54 5/8 x 45 3/16 x 5 in. (138.7 x 114.8 x 12.7 cm)

Inscriptions

Inscribed verso: "Rosalba Peale and her sister Eleanor Jacobs, painted by Rembrandt Peale, N. York, 1826. The property of their mother Eleanor Peale."

Credit Line

A. Augustus Healy Fund

Accession Number

67.205.3

Frequent Art Questions

  • Why was this painting made? Did those two ladies request a portrait or were they royalty or something?

    Those two women are sisters named Eleanor and Rosalba Peale. They were also the daughters of the artist who made this portrait, Rembrandt Peale. Notice the painter's palette in front of them! Peale had nine children, and several of them also became artists.
  • Tell me more.

    The two women in this portrait are sisters named Eleanor and Rosalba Peale. They are the daughters of the artist, Rembrandt Peale.
    Peale had nine children in total, and a number of them became artists themselves. Apparently, Peale based this composition on David's portrait of the Bonaparte daughters. Peale met David while visiting Paris.

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