George Washington in 1772 as colonel of the Virginia Regiment/ painting by Charles Willson Peale Smith, Jesse Lowe, Superintendent of Schools, Highland Park, Illinois The original oil on canvas by George Willson Peale is often described as the earliest portrait of George Washington. He is depicted in his Virginia Regiment uniform, painted in 1772. n.d. image image image/jpeg Glass Slide: 5 x 7 in. https://highlandparkhistory.org//0189 0189 The source of the reprint that Smith photographed is unknown. However, the original painting can be found in the Washington-Custis-Lee Collection, University Collections of Art and History, Washington and Lee University (Lexington, Virginia).