The Marriage of Nelly Custis

In this early-twentieth-century historical painting, the artist Percy Moran recreates a scene from the marriage of Eleanor "Nelly" Parke Custis to Lawrence Lewis at Mount Vernon. Nelly Custis was the granddaughter of Martha Washington, shown seated with a cup in her hand. Nelly and her brother George Washington Parke Custis were raised by George and Martha Washington after the death of their father in 1781. The groom, Lawrence Lewis, being congratulated at center, was a nephew of George Washington. The wedding took place on February 22, 1799, George Washington's last birthday.