George Washington

Object Details

Attribution

Massimiliano Ravenna

Copy after

Giuseppe Ceracchi, 4 Jul 1751 - 31 Jan 1801

Sitter

George Washington, 22 Feb 1732 - 14 Dec 1799

Exhibition Label

This heroic sculpture depicts George Washington as a Roman emperor, a popular European tradition for representing political and military leaders. The portrait is based on a likeness modeled in Philadelphia in 1791 or 1792 by Italian sculptor Giuseppe Ceracchi, who came to the United States seeking the commission for a congressional monument to Washington (which was never made). A plaster cast of his life portrait of Washington was acquired in 1809 by Thomas Appleton, American consul in Livorno (Leghorn), Italy. A decade later, Italian sculptor Massimiliano Ravenna made several marble copies of the portrait for sale in the United States.

Provenance

(Peter Hill); purchased NPG 1970

Credit Line

National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution

c. 1819 copy after 1792 original

Object number

NPG.70.4

Restrictions & Rights

CC0

Type

Sculpture

Medium

Marble

Dimensions

69.5cm (27 3/8"), Accurate

National Portrait Gallery

Topic

George Washington: Male

George Washington: Military\Army\Officer\Revolution

George Washington: Politics and Government\Statesman\Colonial Statesman

George Washington: Natural Resources\Agriculturist\Farmer

George Washington: Military\Army\Officer\General

George Washington: Politics and Government\President of US

George Washington: Science and Technology\Engineer\Surveyor

George Washington: Congressional Gold Medal

Portrait

Record ID

npg_NPG.70.4

Usage of Metadata (Object Detail Text)

CC0

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm43e89fb17-0780-4ad8-9788-99f30ce5d515