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George Washington, 1732-1799
Born Westmoreland County, Virginia
In 1784, the 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 raveled across the Atlantic and spent two weeks at Mount Vernon. While there, he made a life mask of Washington. That mask became the basis for several plaster and terra-cotta busts, including this one.
Jean-Antoine Houdon, c. 1786 |