This is one of the 'must-see' sights when visiting Philadelphia. The PA Academy of Fine Arts is pretty unique in that it is also an art school (associated with UPenn). As such, there have been several famous artists that have studied here. The museum itself is quite an incredible building. It has been the museum's since around 1880, and has many interesting architectural details, such as large arches as you approach the building, to pocket doors separating the galleries, to exposed steel beams (they were designed this way).

For us, the best part of the museum was the gallery of George Washington paintings. As you walk through this gallery, you will see several portraits of Washington done by different artists. It is very interesting to compare them to each other, and see how different people rendered Washington differently. For those that choose to, there are also audio tours and guided tours available.

Part of the charm of visiting the Academy is the building itself. Designed by Frank Furness and George Hewitt, the present building has housed the collection since 1876. It is Moorish in design and the deeper you travel into the building the more details you see. As you come up the main stairway you are drawn to the bright colored tiles and the soaring arches. There are some very interesting touches, the building was designed to be as fire proof as possible, to this end there are steel beams that the designer chose to leave exposed and work into his design. The galleries also have pocket doors that can be closed to seal off the rooms. The molding has a carved flower design. All the rooms have skylights and the lighting is fantastic in every space.

This is not just an art museum, it is a school of art whose students apply by portfolio and are accepted into an art program affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania. Many of the artists of the past century have attended classes or taught classes here. Some of the more famous include Mary Cassatt, Thomas Sully, and William Merritt Chase.

There is an optional headphone tour that will take you through the galleries. There are also guided tours twice a day, at 11:30am and 12:30pm weekdays and 12pm and 1pm on weekends. We arrived at 11:15am and decided to take the headphone tour rather than wait for the guided tour. At about 12:15pm Elaine Jaffe, the docent, caught up with us and offered to give us a private tour. We were happy to allow her to share her knowledge.

The first thing you notice as you come up the stairs is a monumental Benjamin West painting. This was intended for the Royal Chapel but failed to please George III. It’s hard to imagine why, it is called "Death on the Pale Horse" and is based on a biblical passage. Joining death are war, famine, and pestilence. One has to imagine that perhaps the dispute with the colonies may have put the king off on issues of war.

You will walk through the Colonial period and into the Washington Gallery. Here you will be able to compare the portraits of our founding father. On one side is the most famous rendition by Gilbert Stewart, but what becomes immediately noticeable in the full length portrait is that George’s body is way too short. Facing it is Charles Willson Peales younger General Washington which has a taller George but he has a pin head with very narrow shoulders, something really looks wrong about his body. Probably the best of the paintings is the one by Rembrandt Peale which was done years after George’s death. There is a whole room of Peale family artwork. I could go on and on but really you need to visit yourself. The building is fully handicap accessible and includes a café. The gift shop is in the new building adjacent.