Still Life; Bosschaert, Meléndez, and Peale

Ruben Peale with a Geranium by Rembrandt Peale
Rembrandt Peale, Rubens Peale with a Geranium, 1801, oil on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Patrons' Permanent Fund 1985.59.1

There is also a scientific dimension to Raphaelle's precise style. Indeed, the Peale family was at the center of the flourishing scientific community in America. Raphaelle's father, Charles Willson Peale, established the country's first museum of natural history. He was often assisted by his sons: Raphaelle, for example, traveled to South America and Mexico to seek out exotic plant and animal specimens and worked occasionally as a taxidermist, preparing animals for display.

When Rembrandt Peale made this portrait of their brother Rubens Peale, it was to celebrate a horticultural triumph—the geranium was reputed to be the first of its type grown in America. It is a true double portrait: plant and person are of equal importance.