Portrait of William Branch Giles
oil on canvas
inscribed and dated to verso
28 1/2 x 24 12 inches.

William Branch Giles (1762-1830) was an adept lawyer, statesman, and the 24th Governor of Virginia. Giles studied law at the College of William and Mary under Declaration of Independence signatory George Wythe and would go on to advocate for the purity of the original Constitution and states' rights, often countering the Federalist policies of the Washington and Adams administrations.