1823 LAND INDENTURE SIGNED BY ARTIST AND NATURALIST RUBENS PEALE

PEALE, Rubens. Document signed. Philadelphia, October 13, 1823. Oblong folio, 14-1/2 inches by 24 inches, one page, manuscript, with wax seals. $350.

Original land indenture signed by naturalist and painter Rubens Peale.

For "tenement and lot on piece of ground thereunto belonging situate on the north side of Walnut Street between Delaware sixth and seventh Streets in the said City of Philadelphia." Rembrandt Peale is also mentioned in the chain-of-deed. Rembrandt and Rubens were the sons of the painter and naturalist Charles Willson Peale. Peale's children—which also included the sons Raphaelle and Titian—were strongly encouraged in their artistic endeavors, but Rubens' poor eyesight kept him from pursuing painting until much later in his life, when he became known for his still lifes. Rubens is the subject of his brother Rembrandt's well-known painting Rubens Peale with a Geranium, described by the National Gallery of Art (where it now hangs) as "among the finest portraits in the history of American art."

A rare document connecting three notable members of the famous Peale family.