Lecture previews Princeton University Library exhibition item: Battle of Princeton painting

Michael Blakeman, an associate professor of history at Princeton University and a co-curator of an upcoming Princeton University Library exhibition, described one of the show’s featured items: a painting of the Battle of Princeton by James Peel. Blakeman said Peel, who fought at Princeton, produced one of the few contemporary depictions of a Revolutionary War battle by a participant.

Blakeman detailed elements he said make the painting notable: George Washington riding onto the field to rally troops, shown with his blue headquarters flag and mounted on a chestnut stallion; morning light casting long shadows; General Hugh Mercer portrayed mortally wounded; and Nassau Hall visible on the horizon where British soldiers later sought refuge. He noted Peel’s background—apprenticed as a saddle maker and cabinet maker and later taught to paint by his brother—which Blakeman said helps explain the painting’s ‘‘primitive, almost folksy’’ style alongside its attention to detail.

Blakeman said the painting also shows Americans dressed not only in blue but in brown, reflecting the Pennsylvania militia unit that included Peel’s brother, Charles Wilson Peale. He invited the public to view the work along with original copies of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution when the exhibition opens April 15 at the Princeton University Library.