A revered, self-taught scientist, thorough naturalist, and jack-of-all-trades, Charles Willson Peale was considered a true Renaissance man. He passed on all his artistic talent and knowledge to his many sons. A friend of George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson, Peale promoted artistic development and public art. In his works he captured the reality and vividness of life. The similarities between Peale and his American contemporaries can be seen when comparing them to him. The well-known neo-classical artist, Charles Peale, through all his crafts, was a masterful craftsman and artist. Fully competent in many fields, Charles Peale was known as an American Leonardo. Living from 1741 to 1827, Peale was the eldest of 5 children who grew up in Chestertown, Maryland (Comprehensive Dictionary of Scientific Biography). As a scientist, artist, saddler, watchmaker, goldsmith, upholsterer, soldier, politician and inventor, Charles Peale earned the title of a true man of the Enlightenment. By inventing a new type of glasses, false porcelain teeth, a steam bath, and a stove that consumed its own smoke, Peale was certainly extremely innovative (Strickland 72). While being trained as a saddler, Peale decided, at the age of 21, that painting would be a better path to follow. In 1776 he moved to Philadelphia and during the American Revolutionary War, Peale served as a militia officer from 1776 to 1778 and continued to paint throughout. With his three wives, Rachel Brewer, Elizabeth DePeyster, and Hannah Moore, Peale had 17 children (Comprehensive Dictionary of Scientific Biography). Due to his insatiable interest and curiosity, Willson Peale founded a natural history museum...... middle of paper ......aries and Charles Peale, it is noted that they were all competent neoclassical artists. As Charles Peale says life is examined, it is seen that he was an ingenious scientist, inventor and artist. His painting The Peale Family is an extraordinarily profound work of art, with its complex composition and style. In comparison to Peale himself, American contemporaries of his era, like Peale, were creative artists and architects who greatly influenced neoclassicism and current and future culture. Works CitedCharles Willson Peale. " Encyclopedia of World Biography. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. November 16, 2013 Peale, Charles Willson. Comprehensive Dictionary of Scientific Biography. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. November 16, 2013 Strickland, Carol. The Mona Lisa Annotated. Kansas City: Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2007.