George Washington 1732–1799

In 1784, the much-admired French sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon agreed to execute a full-length marble statue of George Washington for the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond. The following year, he traveled across the Atlantic and spent two weeks at Mount Vernon, where he made a life mask of Washington. The mask became the basis for several plaster and terra-cotta busts, including this one, which bears the sculptor’s signature. The marble statue took some ten years to complete and still resides in the Virginia Capitol.

Credit: Partial gift of Joe L. and Barbara B. Albritton and Robert H. and Clarice Smith