Rembrandt Peale was born in 1778 in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, the second son of Charles Willson Peale. At the age of eight he began to draw. He painted his first portrait at the age of thirteen. At the age of seventeen he painted the last portrait of George Washington to be done from life, although there is some ambiguity as to how much help he received from his father. He became a student at classes organized by his father and other Philadelphia artists and also studied the chemistry of pigments at the University of Pennsylvania's new medical school.

In 1796, together with his brother Raphaelle, he established a museum in Baltimore, Maryland. He then assisted his father in unearthing and ass...