Charles Willson Peale painted this portrait of Martha Washington in 1795, at about the same time that he painted his last life portrait of the President. He exhibited the two portraits together in his Philadelphia museum, which he had moved into Philosophical Hall in 1794. Peale first painted Martha's portrait in 1772, and had painted her again in miniature in 1791 for one of her granddaughters. Peale's familiarity with the Washingtons led him to propose this new portrait of Martha. According to Rembrandt Peale, "His father, Charles Willson Peale, in 1795, met General Washington in the market, and remarked to him that he had just seen Mrs. Washington, and she looked so well that her portrait must again be painted; to which General Washington replied, "that she certainly would sit again, as the temptation of looking well was too strong to be resisted."