''George Washington'' was a life-size marble statue of

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

, done in the style of a

Roman general Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

, by the Venetian-Italian Neoclassical sculptor

Antonio Canova Antonio Canova (; 1 November 1757 – 13 October 1822) was an Italians, Italian Neoclassical sculpture, Neoclassical sculptor, famous for his marble sculptures. Often regarded as the greatest of the Neoclassical artists,. his sculpture was ins ...

. Commissioned by the

State of North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

in 1815, it was completed in 1820 and installed in the rotunda of the

North Carolina State House The North Carolina State House was built from 1792 to 1796 as the state capitol for North Carolina. It was located at Union Square in the state capital, Raleigh, in Wake County. The building was extensively renovated in the neoclassical style b ...

on December 24, 1821. The building and the statue were destroyed by fire on June 21, 1831. This work was the only one created by Canova for the United States.

History

In December 1815, the House of Commons and the Senate of North Carolina unanimously resolved to commission a full-length statue of Washington. Governor William Miller, with the assistance and recommendation of

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...

, determined that Canova should be the sculptor and that Thomas Appleton, American consul in

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 152,916 residents as of 2025. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn ...

, Italy, should handle the negotiations. Washington had died in 1799, and Jefferson recommended that Canova use the marble bust of Washington by

Giuseppe Ceracchi Giuseppe Ceracchi, also known as ''Giuseppe Cirachi'', (4 July 1751 – 30 January 1801) was an Italian sculptor active in a Neoclassic style. He worked in Italy, England, and in the United States following the nation's emergence following the Am ...

as a model for the head; Appleton owned a plaster copy. Canova started work on the statue at his studio in Rome in 1817, completing several sketches and

maquette A ''maquette'' is a scale model or rough draft of an unfinished sculpture or work of architecture. The term is a loanword from French. An equivalent term is ''bozzetto'', a diminutive of the Italian word for a sketch. Sculpture A maquette ...

s (also described as modellos or bozzettos). He finished the statue in 1820. Governor Miller had requested a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

vessel to transport it from Italy. Commodore

William Bainbridge Commodore William Bainbridge (May 7, 1774July 27, 1833) was a United States Navy officer. During his long career in the young American navy he served under six presidents beginning with John Adams and is notable for his many victories at sea. ...

, commander of , delivered it to Boston on July 22, 1821. The statue ultimately arrived in

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...

, on December 24 and was installed in the rotunda of the state house as part of an official ceremony, attended by Governor

Jesse Franklin Jesse Franklin (March 24, 1760 – August 31, 1823) was the Democratic-Republican U.S. senator from the U.S. state of North Carolina between 1799 and 1805 and between 1807 and 1813. In 1804, Franklin briefly served as President pro tempore of ...

and the legislature. Colonel William Polk, an officer in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

, addressed the audience in the dedication speech, comparing Canova to

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (6March 147518February 1564), known mononymously as Michelangelo, was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was inspir ...

and praising Washington. Canova did not see the statue installed in North Carolina: he died in Venice in 1822. In March 1825, the

Marquis de Lafayette Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette, Marquis de La Fayette (; 6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (), was a French military officer and politician who volunteered to join the Conti ...

viewed the statue and was reported to state that "the likeness was so much better than he expected to see." Following the major fire of May 29, 1831, in

Fayetteville Fayetteville may refer to: *Fayetteville, Alabama *Fayetteville, Arkansas ** The Fayetteville Formation *Fayetteville, Georgia *Fayetteville, Illinois *Fayetteville, Indiana *Fayetteville, Washington County, Indiana *Fayetteville, Missouri *Fayette ...

, the state decided to protect the wooden roof of the state house with zinc sheets. On June 21, while working to fireproof the building, workers accidentally set the roof on fire while soldering nail heads to the zinc. The resulting destruction of both the state house and Canova's statue was described as an "Awful conflagration!" in ''

The Raleigh Register ''The Register-Herald'' is a six-day morning daily newspaper, Monday through Friday, with a weekend edition delivered on Saturday mornings. It is based in Beckley, West Virginia, United States. It also covers surrounding communities in Fayette, ...

'' on June 23. A plaster replica was sent by the Italian government in 1910 and is on view at the

North Carolina Museum of History The North Carolina Museum of History is a history museum located in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina. It is an affiliate through the Smithsonian Affiliations program. The museum is a part of the Division of State History Museums, Office of Archi ...

. A marble copy was sculpted by Romano Vio in 1970, and is displayed in the rotunda of the

North Carolina State Capitol The North Carolina State Capitol is the former seat of the legislature of the U.S. state of North Carolina which housed all of the state's government until 1888. The Supreme Court and State Library moved into a separate building in 1888, and th ...

, which was built in the same spot as the state house destroyed in 1831.

Description

The statue was made of

Carrara marble Carrara marble, or Luna marble (''marmor lunense'') to the Romans, is a type of white or blue-grey marble popular for use in sculpture and building decor. It has been quarried since Roman times in the mountains just outside the city of Carrara ...

. Washington is dressed ''all'antica'' in ancient Roman military armor and shown seated holding a tablet in his left hand and a quill in his right hand; a modern

Cincinnatus Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus () was a Roman patrician, statesman, and military leader of the early Roman Republic who became a famous model of Roman virtue—particularly civic virtue—by the time of the late Republic. Modern historians quest ...

drafting his farewell address to the nation. At his feet are a sword and

baton Baton may refer to: Stick-like objects *Baton, a type of club *Baton (law enforcement) *Baston (weapon), a type of baton used in Arnis and Filipino Martial Arts *Baton charge, a coordinated tactic for dispersing crowds of people *Baton (conducti ...

. The following inscription was on the base: The statue was displayed on a separate pedestal made by Canova's student, Raimondo Trentanove, son of

Antonio Trentanove Antonio Trentanove (c. 1745 – 1812) was an Italian sculptor and stucco-artist, active in Bologna in a Neoclassical style. He was born in Rimini and studied at the Accademia Clementina. He is best known for his stucco decorations. He completed ...

. Trentanove carved four

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

s into the white marble of the pedestal, with each scene depicting an important aspect of Washington's life, as specified by Appleton. The front relief showed the surrender of British General

Charles Cornwallis Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis (31 December 1738 – 5 October 1805) was a British Army officer, Whig politician and colonial administrator. In the United States and United Kingdom, he is best known as one of the leading Britis ...

at Yorktown with Washington in victory. The second scene showed his resignation as commander-in-chief of the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

. The third one his election as President of the United States. The last one showed him with a plow back at his farm at

Mount Vernon Mount Vernon is the former residence and plantation of George Washington, a Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States, and his wife, Martha. An American landmar ...

, like

returning to private life.

Legacy

From May 23 through September 23, 2018, the

Frick Collection The Frick Collection (colloquially known as the Frick) is an art museum on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It was established in 1935 to preserve the collection of the industrialist Henry Clay Frick. The collection (museum) ...

presented an exhibition, ''Canova's George Washington'', that displayed several of the

s used to create the work, including a full-size plaster model, on loan from the Museo Canova in

Possagno Possagno is a comune in the Province of Treviso, in the Italy, Italian region Veneto. It is located about northwest of Venice and about northwest of Treviso. As of 31 August 2021, it had a population of 2,215 and an area of .All demographics and ...

. The exhibition then traveled to the Museo Canova, where it ran from November 10, 2018 until April 22, 2019.

Gallery

File: Antonio Canova Selfportrait 1792.jpg,

Canova Antonio Canova (; 1 November 1757 – 13 October 1822) was an Italian Neoclassical sculptor, famous for his marble sculptures. Often regarded as the greatest of the Neoclassical artists,. his sculpture was inspired by the Baroque and the clas ...

, self-portrait, 1792 File:George Washington by Ceracchi - marble, profile, MMA.jpg, Marble bust of Washington by

, 1795 File:Canova's Statue of General George Washington, lithograph by Newsam.jpg, Lithograph of original Statue and pedestal depicted in the rotunda of the

with bas-reliefs by R. Trentanove File:Canova-Washington.JPG, ''George Washington'', plaster replica on display at the

File:George Washington by Antonio Canova - DSC05895.jpg, ''George Washington'', copy by Romano Vio in the

File:Possagno, Gipsoteca Canoviana 2.jpg, Plaster model at the Museo Canova

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

* * * {{George Washington 1820 sculptures Statues of George Washington

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

Marble sculptures in the United States Monuments and memorials to George Washington in the United States Statues in North Carolina Destroyed sculptures