Houdon, George Washington
An American hero sculpted by a foreigner
Jean-Antoine Houdon, George Washington, 1788-92, marble, 6' 2" high (State Capitol, Richmond, Virginia)
After the successful conclusion of the American Revolutionary War, many state governments turned
to public art to commemorate this momentous occasion. Given his critical role both in Virginia and the
colonial cause, it is unsurprising that the Virginia General Assembly desired a statue of George
Washington for display in a public space.
And so, in 1784, the Governor of Virginia, Benjamin Harrison V, asked Thomas Jefferson, a Virginian
who was then in Paris as the American Minister to France, to select an appropriate artist to sculpt
Washington. Seeking a European sculptor—and for Jefferson whose Francophile sympathies were
clear, preferably one who was French—was a logical decision given the lack of artistic talent then
available in the United States. Through basic necessity, then, this portrait of an American hero
needed to be made by a foreigner.
Jefferson knew just the artist for this task: Jean-Antoine Houdon. Trained at the Académie Royale de
Peinture et de Sculpture and winner of the prestigious Prix de Rome in 1761 when only twenty years
of age, Houdon was, by the middle of the 1780s, the most famous and accomplished neoclassical
sculptor at work in France. Jefferson commissioned Houdon to complete a monumental statue of
Washington. Given Houdon’s skill and ambition, the sculptor likely hoped to cast a larger than lifesized bronze statue of General Washington on horseback, a format appropriate for a victorious field
commander. In time, however, Houdon would be disappointed if his aspiration was to forge an
equestrian bronze, the final product, delivered more than a decade later, was comparatively simple
standing marble.
Evidence suggests that Houdon was to remain in Paris and sculpt Washington from a likeness
Charles Willson Peale had drawn. Dissatisfied, and uncomfortable with carving in three dimensions
what Peale had rendered in two, Houdon made plans to visit Washington in person. Houdon departed
for the United States in July 1785 and was joined by Benjamin Franklin—who he had sculpted in
1778—and two assistants. The group sailed into Philadelphia about seven weeks later and Houdon
and his assistants arrived at Mount Vernon—Washington’s home in Virginia—by early October. There
they took detailed measurements of Washington’s body and sculpted a life mask of the future
president’s face.
Contemporary clothing (and not a toga)
While in Virginia, Houdon created a slightly idealized and classicized bust portrait of the future first
president. Unfortunately, Washington disliked this classicized aesthetic and insisted on being shown
wearing contemporary attire rather than the garments of a hero from ancient Greece or Rome. With
clear instructions from the sitter to be depicted in contemporary dress, Houdon returned to Paris in
December 1785 and set to work on a standing full-length statue carved from Carrara marble.
Although Houdon dated the statue 1788, he did not finish it until about four years later, and the statue
was not delivered to the State of Virginia until May of 1796 when the Rotunda of the Virginia State
Capitol was finally completed.
In time, this statue of George Washington has become one of the most recognized and copied of
images of the first president of the United States. Houdon not only perfectly captured Washington’s
likeness—John Marshal, the second Chief Justice of the Supreme Court later wrote, “Nothing in
bronze or stone could be a more perfect image than this statue of the living Washington”—Houdon
also captured the essential duality of Washington: the private citizen and the public solider.
Washington looking to his left in his military uniform (detail), Jean-Antoine Houdon, George Washington, 1788-92, marble, 6' 2" high,
State Capitol, Richmond, Virginia, (photo: Holley St. Germain, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
Washington stands and looks slightly to his left; his facial expression could best be described as
fatherly. He wears not a toga or other classically inspired garment—as the neoclassically inclined
Houdon would have no doubt preferred—but instead his military uniform. His stance mimics that of
the contraposto seen in Polykleitos’Doryphoros.
Washington’s left leg is slightly bent and half a stride forward, while his right leg is weight bearing. His
right arm hangs by his side and rests atop a gentleman’s walking stick. His left arm—bent at the
elbow—rests atop a fasces, a bundle of thirteen rods that symbolizes not only the power of a ruler but
also the strength found through unity. This visually represents the concept of E Pluribus Unum—Out
of Many, One—a congressionally approved motto of the United States from 1782 until 1956.
Rather than hold his officer’s sword, a symbol of military might and authority, it instead benignly
hangs on the outside of the fasces, just beyond Washington’s immediate grasp. This surrendering of
military power is further reinforced by the presence of the plow behind Washington. This refers to the
story of Cincinnatus, a Roman dictator who resigned his absolute power when his leadership was no
longer needed so that he could return to his farm. Like this Roman, Washington resigned his power
and returned to his farm to live a peaceful, civilian life.
Washington as soldier and private citizen
The statue, still on view in the Rotunda of the Virginia State Capitol, is a near perfect representation
of the first president of the United States of America. In it, Houdon captured not only what George
Washington looked like, but more importantly, who Washington was, both as a soldier and as a
private citizen.
The enormously talented Houdon wisely accepted Washington’s advice. Indeed, Washington knew it
was better to be subtly compared to Cincinnatus than to be overtly linked to Caesar, another Roman,
who unlike Cincinnatus, did not surrender his power.
Horatio Greenough, George Washington, 1840, marble, 136 x 102 inches, National Museum of American History (photo: Steve Fernie, CC BY-NC 2.0)
To compare Houdon’s statue to Horatio Greenough’s 1840 statue of Washington only makes this
salient point more clear. With the sitter’s urging, Houdon opted for subtlety whereas Greenough
decided two generations later to fully embrace a neoclassical aesthetic. As a result, Houdon’s statue
celebrates Washington the man, whereas Greenough deified Washington as a god.
Essay by Dr. Bryan Zygmont