The date given for the sculpture varies. It was commissioned by theVirginia General Assembly in 1784, begun in 1785, signed "1788", completed in 1791 or 1792, and delivered in 1796.[1][2][3]
The original statue is carved fromCarrara marble, weighing 18 tons. It depicts a standing life-sized Washington. In his right hand is a cane, his left arm rests on afasces on which is slung his cape and sword, and at the back is a plow.[4][5] He is shown wearing his military uniform, as Washington wished to be depicted in contemporary attire, rather than that of antiquity popular inNeo-classical sculpture.[6][7]
With its selection of objects both civilian (the plow and cane) and military (the fasces, sword, and uniform), the statue has been interpreted as invoking the imagery and ideal of an AncientRoman dictator,Cincinnatus, with whom Washington has been compared in his decision to retire from public life following theRevolutionary War.[1][2][3] Washington was elected president of theSociety of the Cincinnati in 1783. At the time of the statue's commission, Washington had not yet served in theConstitutional Convention and would not become President of the United States until 1789.
Chief Justice John Marshall, a contemporary of Washington's said of the work, "Nothing in bronze or stone could be a more perfect image than this statue of the living Washington."[8]
During the design process, Houdon produced this plaster bust of Washington in 1786. He later revised it before making the final statue. (National Portrait Gallery)
In 1784, theVirginia General Assembly commissioned a statue of George Washington "to be of the finest marble and the best workmanship," necessitating a European craftsman. The Governor of Virginia gave the responsibility of selecting the artist toThomas Jefferson, then ambassador to France, who together withBenjamin Franklin recommended that Jean-Antoine Houdon, the most famous sculptor of the day, execute the work.[4]
Unsatisfied to work from a drawing of Washington byCharles Willson Peale sent for the project, and lured by a potential commission for an equestrian monument by theCongress of the Confederation, Houdon agreed to travel to the United States to work directly from Washington.[4] His voyage was conditional on his life beinginsured for the trip, asking "that ten thousandlivres be paid to his family should he die during the voyage".[9][10][11] On July 28, 1785, (or, July 22, 1785)[12] Houdon sailed with Benjamin Franklin and "two of his workmen"[12] from Southampton, England, arriving in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on September 14.[13]
In early October 1785, Houdon along with three assistants stayed at Washington's plantationMount Vernon, taking detailed measurements of Washington's arms, legs, hands and chest and making a life mask of his face.[14] By December, Houdon had returned to France.[15]
Though inscribed with the date "1788", it was completed in France in 1791 or 1792 (depending on the source). It was finally delivered to Richmond in 1796 and placed in the rotunda on May 14, 1796. Various explanations for the delay in its delivery have been given, including theFrench Revolution[16] and untimely payments to Houdon, though most sources agree that the continued construction of the new Virginia State Capitol prevented its installation until the time it arrived.[17]
The equestrian monument that originally attracted Houdon to America was never commissioned. The 1783 resolution authorizing such a statue would eventually be fulfilled in 1860 whenClark Mills'sequestrian statue of George Washington was installed atWashington Circle.
In the early 21st century the statue, together with the life mask and bust created by Houdon during the design process, were used as part of a forensic reconstruction of George Washington at various ages undertaken by Mount Vernon.[18]
Beginning in the 19th century, numerous copies of the statue have been made in bronze and plaster, with molds often made directly from the original.[2]
Following the destruction of astatue of Washington created byAntonio Canova when theNorth Carolina State House burned in 1831, there was a fear that a similar fate might befall Houdon's statue.[4] During the 1850s, the Virginia General Assembly authorized the casting of 11 bronze copies of the monument. Six bronzes were produced by the foundry of Richmond artistWilliam James Hubard. Known casts from the Hubard foundry are located at:
Virginia Military Institute inLexington, Virginia, unveiled in 1856. After the occupation of Lexington in the American Civil War, it was temporarily relocated to Wheeling, West Virginia, and returned in 1866.[19]
North Carolina State Capitol, in 1857. It was the first monument placed on the new capitol's grounds, designed to replace the destroyed Canova statue.[20]
A plaster cast by Hubard, once located in the U.S. Capitol, was moved in 1950 to theSmithsonian American Art Museum,[27] and in 2007 transferred to the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation in Virginia.[28]
In 1910 an act of the general Assembly of Virginia stated, "That the permission and authority of the State of Virginia be .... granted to theGorham Manufacturing Company .... to make further copies or reproductions of the Houdon statue of George Washington from the molds now in possession of said company... belonging to the State of Virginia, for any National, State, Territorial, County of Municipal Government ...... for any university, college, school, library, art gallery, or other educational institution: for any patriotic society ..... related to the history and achievements of George Washington." Each copy was to be stamped with the great seal of Virginia and the phrase, "Copied from the original by Houdon..." Gorham was to pay the state $500 for every statue made.[30] The Virginia legislature banned future taking of molds, and so the subsequent casts were made from existing molds.[2]
In addition to bronze castings, an unknown number of plaster casts were made, includingone from 1932 on display in theIndiana Statehouse in Indianapolis, Indiana,[59] and one in George Washington Hall of theUniversity of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia of unknown make, dating to the 1930s.[60]
^"Control number 76006401".SIRIS Inventory of American Sculpture. Smithsonian American Art Museum. RetrievedJuly 8, 2012.
^McCue, George, Photographs by David Finn and Amy Binder,Sculpture City: St. Louis, Sculpture in the "Gateway to the West" Hudson Hills Press NY and Laumeier Sculpture Park, St. Louis, 1988 p. 178
^"Control number 87810007".SIRIS Inventory of American Sculpture. Smithsonian American Art Museum. RetrievedJuly 8, 2012.
^"Control number 77002021".SIRIS Inventory of American Sculpture. Smithsonian American Art Museum. RetrievedJuly 8, 2012.
^Public Design Commission of the City of New York."The Art Collection". The City of New York. Archived fromthe original on November 6, 2012. RetrievedJuly 8, 2012.
^"Control number 08580739".SIRIS Inventory of American Sculpture. Smithsonian American Art Museum. RetrievedJuly 8, 2012.
^Murdock, Myrtle Cheney,National Statuary Hall in the Nation's Capitol, Monumental Press, Washington D.C., 1955 p80-81
^George Washington: Antoine Houdon, Sculptor, A brief history of the most famous sculpture created of America's immortal patriot issued to commemorate the bicentennial of his birth 1732–1932, The Gorham Company, Providence, Rhode Island, 1931
^Evert, Marlyn and Vernon Gay, photographs,Discovering Pittsburgh's Sculpture, University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, PA, 1983 pp355-356
^"Control number 64480190".SIRIS Inventory of American Sculpture. Smithsonian American Art Museum. RetrievedJuly 8, 2012.
^Beajer and Style,Public Sculpture in Wisconsin: An Atlas of Outdoor Monuments, Memorials and Masterpieces in the Badger State, SOS! Wisconsin, Save Outdoor Sculpture and Fine Arts Conservation Services, Madison Wisconsin, 1999 p. 25
^"Control number WI000444".SIRIS Inventory of American Sculpture. Smithsonian American Art Museum. RetrievedJuly 8, 2012.
^"Control number VA000021".SIRIS Inventory of American Sculpture. Smithsonian American Art Museum. RetrievedJuly 8, 2012.
^"Control number 75004360".SIRIS Inventory of American Sculpture. Smithsonian American Art Museum. RetrievedJuly 8, 2012.
^Riedy, James L.,Chicago Sculpture, University of Illinois Press, Urbana, Illinois, 1981 p. 210
^"Control number CA001147".SIRIS Inventory of American Sculpture. Smithsonian American Art Museum. RetrievedJuly 8, 2012.
^"Control number IAS 67750004".SIRIS Inventory of American Sculpture. Smithsonian American Art Museum. RetrievedJuly 7, 2012.
^"Control number 77002022".SIRIS Inventory of American Sculpture. Smithsonian American Art Museum. RetrievedJuly 8, 2012.
^"Control number NY000649".SIRIS Inventory of American Sculpture. Smithsonian American Art Museum. RetrievedJuly 8, 2012.
^"Control number DC000189".SIRIS Inventory of American Sculpture. Smithsonian American Art Museum. RetrievedJuly 7, 2012.
^"Houdon Statue of George Washington".The GW and Foggy Bottom Historical Encyclopedia. Special Collections Research Center, George Washington University Libraries. Archived fromthe original on June 13, 2010. RetrievedJuly 7, 2012.
^"Maxwell School: Facilities".The Maxwell School of Syracuse University. January 14, 2009. Archived fromthe original on September 25, 2020. RetrievedFebruary 3, 2020.
Media related toGeorge Washington by Jean-Antoine Houdon at Wikimedia Commons
