Peale family.

The Peale family of Philadelphia produced a number of the leading American artists, naturalists and technicians of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

Charles Wilson Peale was born in Queen Anne County, Md., on April 15, 1741. Originally apprenticed to a saddler, Peale abandoned his trade to develop his talents as a portrait painter, and he later studied under Benjamin West in England. He moved to Philadelphia in 1776 and served the Revolutionary War effort in both military and civil capacities. He was also called upon to produce numerous portraits of the Revolutionary leaders and officers, and these formed the nucleus of the private museum he established in Philadelphia after the war. The museum, among the most notable of its day, also reflected Peale's strong interest in natural philosophy and the mechanic arts. Peale was also the leading actor in the founding of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1805. He died in Philadelphia on February 22, 1827.

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