“It is quaint,” Mom said. “But that’s not the only quaint thing around. Wait until you see your bed— the one my brother used to sleep in at Penncroft. It has a canopy.”
“A can o’ pee? You mean this place doesn’t have bathrooms?”
Mom shook her finger at me. “You know very well what I mean, Lars. A canopy over the bed, not under it!”
“It better not have ruffles,” I protested. “
Oh, don’t worry,” she said. “As canopies go, it’s not a bit frilly. It was masculine enough for your ancestor George to sleep under. Besides, George himself is hanging in your room. So’s his wife.”
“H-h-h-hanging . . . ,” I stuttered, every horror movie I’d ever seen replaying before my eyes.
“She’s only teasing you, Lars,” Dad said. “It’s a portrait of the old boy by Charles Willson Peale, who painted most of the Revolution big shots, like Washington and Franklin. Well, here we are!”
-The Riddle of Penncroft Farm © 1989 by Dorothea Jensen
Grateful American Kids website has posted an terrific article about Charles Willson Peale. It starts out like this:
Charles Willson Peale (April 15, 1741 – Feb. 22, 1827) was an American painter, soldier, scientist, inventor, politician, and naturalist. He is best remembered for his portrait paintings of leading figures of the American Revolution, as well as for establishing one of the first museums.
Born in 1741 in Chester, Queen Anne’s County, MD, Peale became an apprentice to a saddle maker when he was 13 years old. When he got older, he opened his own saddle shop, but his political enemies conspired to bankrupt his business. He tried fixing clocks and working with metals, but both of these businesses failed as well. He then took up painting.
Read the rest of this article here: Charles Willson Peale
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