Existing comment:
Horatio Greenough, 1805-1852
In 1825 the young sculptor Horatio Greenough crossed the Atlantic to study in Rome and subsequently settled in Florence, where he established his studio. In doing so, Greenough set a pattern of European expatriation that aspiring American sculptors would follow for decades. When Congress selected him to create a statue of George Washington for the United States Capitol in 1832, Greenough became the first American-born carver to receive a major commission from the federal government. After the completed sculpture was installed in Washington in 1842, many derided Greenough's monumental representation of a semi-nude Washington draped in classical garb.
Attributed to John Adams Whipple, 1852 |