John Trumbull, George Washington and William Lee, 1780

In this famous painting by Trumbull, Washington is depicted standing above the Hudson River with a Black figure assumed to be William Lee—his enslaved valet, groom, and military aide. Trumbull had served on Washington’s staff early in the Revolutionary War. He painted this from memory years later while studying in London. It was the first authoritative portrayal of Washington available in Europe and was soon widely copied. Trumbull would have known Lee, yet he chose to depict him in a turban, based on a European Orientalist convention associated with Black figures. An accurate portrait of Lee—whom Washington freed and granted an annuity in his will—is unknown.