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Gilbert Stuart Tablet
Artist:
H. Cairns
Location:
Central Burying Ground
Location
Central Burying Ground
Boston Common
Boston, MA United States
See map: Google Maps
Neighborhood:
Downtown
Type:
Plaque
Year:
1897
Medium:
Granite
Collection:
Funders:
Description:
The prolific portrait painter Gilbert Charles Stuart (1777-1828) is best known for the so-called “unfinished portrait” of George Washington, the face of which is reproduced on the dollar bill. Stuart mainly painted portraits of his wealthy clients, including the first six presidents of the United States, but due to his mismanagement of his business, Stuart died in poverty and was buried in an unmarked grave in the Old South Burying Ground on Boston Common. The grave cannot now be located, but this granite tablet commemorates Stuart’s life and work. The tablet depicts a painter’s palette in bas-relief with a quill pen thrust through the thumbhole.