Not everyone sees the same thing when they look at an image. A picture of George Washington praying might seem unremarkable to some. To others, it's a powerful statement about how the United States was founded as a Christian nation.
The image is a favorite of President Trump's administration; it has shown up in social media posts from the Defense Department, the Department of Labor, the Department of Homeland Security, on a White House page and even for sale on a federal government website celebrating America's 250th anniversary.
All are based on a 1975 oil painting by Arnold Friberg on display at the Museum of the Bible in Washington D.C. Large and imposing, "The Prayer at Valley Forge" recently attracted the attention of visitor Rhonda Bolash, visiting from Fort Worth, Texas
"It's beautiful," she says. "George Washington kneeling, praying to our Lord. And you can just see he's asking for help. It's amazing."
According to the museum's wall text: "'The Prayer at Valley Forge' is a poignant portrayal of George Washington during one of the most critical moments in the American Revolution. In the harsh winter of 1777-78, amidst the immense hardships faced by the Continental Army at Valley Forge, many believe Washington knelt in a moment of solitary prayer, seeking guidance and strength from God."
But many historians do not believe there is much evidence for this story. Thomas Tweed, professor emeritus at the University of Notre Dame, has written about its origins, which came from a popular biography written shortly after Washington's death entitled The Life of George Washington: With Curious Anecdotes, Equally Honourable to Himself and Exemplary to His Young Countrymen.
"Parson Weems, Washington's early biographer, concocted that story — as well as the yarn about George and the cherry tree — to establish the moral character and personal piety of the first president and, thereby, advance a particular view of national belonging and church-state relations," Tweed wrote in an essay for Yale University Press.
After the publication of Weems' book in 1800, images of the first president praying became a meme — long before there were memes. Paintings and engravings were reproduced on china plates and on postage stamps in the 1920s. It appeared on the cover of the popular magazine The Saturday Evening Post in 1935, and reproduced in stained glass in a special prayer room built in the U.S. Capitol for members of Congress in the 1950s.
"It sacralizes not just the nation, but military warfare," Tweed told NPR. "And Americans who want to associate religion, the nation and the military have returned to it again and again for a long time."