istic of Stuart, whose methods were peculiarly his own and
could not be caught even by men like Sully, who not only intently
studied his processes but sat and watched him when he was at work. That
a Spaniard with entirely different training and ideals could have
reproduced them is impossible.

As for the costumes, it may be admitted that they differ from most of
Stuart's American work; but the difference is more in subject than in
method and is chiefly noticeable because he never again painted a
gentleman in silver-sprigged scarlet waistcoat and small clothes. He
hated such work, and his position in America enabled him to do as he
chose, and he could tell sitters that if they wanted clothes they could
go to a mantua-maker or a tailor, he painted the works of God. So
distasteful was such labor to him that we know that he employed
assistants in the details of some of his Washington portraits. In the
present canvases the heads are painted with an interest and a
thoroughness very different from that displayed in the costumes. These
latter are skilfully done. The dexterity displayed is amazing and such
as no copyist is at all likely to have had, but it is dexterity applied
to getting a striking result as quickly as possible and with the least
possible effort of hand or brain.

Now, to explain this, we should remember that Stuart only returned to
America in 1793, and the pictures are both dated September 8, 1794.
Whatever that date may mean, both pictures were presumably finished
before then and were thus among the first, perhaps the very first,
important works that Stuart did in New York. He would consequently have
every motive, both from the desire to establish his reputation and from
the position and charm of his sitters, to do his very best. The
workmanship should be compared, not with what he did afterwards in
America but rather with what he had done before in England and Ireland,
when he was compelled by the exigencies of his sitters and the rivalry
of his fellow artists to give some importance to costume and
composition. Unfortunately, Stuart's foreign work is practically unknown
to Americans (and to foreigners also, for that matter). There is little
of it in the public galleries, and a large proportion of it has probably
been rechristened with other and more attractive names. As far as we may
judge from a few examples and from the many engravings after it (some of
them large enough and good enough to give an idea of