Close-Looking: George Washington at the Battle of Princeton, 1783-84

This frame originally held the portrait of English King George II, in whose name the then College of New Jersey had been granted its charter. The portrait of the monarch hung in Nassau Hall from 1761 until January 3, 1777, when the “canvas was torn away by a ball from the American artillery in the Battle of Princeton.” The ornate frame was salvaged and initially repurposed to hold the coat of arms of the late Jonathan Belcher, a colonial New Jersey governor and crucial supporter of the College.