George Washington (Greenough)

Statue of George Washington by Horatio Greenough

For other uses, see George Washington (disambiguation).

George Washington

Artist| Horatio Greenough
Year| 1840 (1840)
Type| Carrara marble
Dimensions| 3.5 m × 2.6 m (136 in × 102 in × 82 1/2[1] in)
Location| National Museum of American History, Washington, D.C., United States
Coordinates| 38°53′28″N 77°01′50″W﻿ / ﻿38.89111°N 77.03056°W﻿ / 38.89111; -77.03056
Owner| Smithsonian Institution

George Washington, also known as Enthroned Washington, is a large marble sculpture by Horatio Greenough commissioned by the United States Congress on July 14, 1832 for the centennial of U.S. President George Washington's birth on February 22, 1732. Completed in 1840, the statue was soon exhibited in the Rotunda of the United States Capitol and then moved to the Capitol's east lawn in 1843.[2] Since 1964, it has been in the National Museum of American History.[2]

Horatio Greenough based Enthroned Washington on Phidias' Statue of Zeus at Olympia, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World which was destroyed in Late Antiquity.[3]

## Description

[edit]

The seated and sandal wearing Washington gazes sternly ahead. He is bare-chested and his right arm and hand gesture with upraised index finger toward Heaven. His left palm and forearm cradle a sheathed sword, hilt forward, symbolizing Washington turning over power to the people at the conclusion of the American Revolutionary War. The representation of Washington in Roman clothing is indicative of Neoclassical art.

The original Latin inscription, on the back of the statue reads:

SIMULACRUM ISTUD
AD MAGNUM LIBERTATIS EXEMPLUM
NEC SINE IPSA DURATURUM
HORATIUS GREENOUGH
FACIEBAT[2]

and translates as: "Horatio Greenough made this image as a great example of freedom, which will not survive without freedom itself."

## History

[edit]

George Washington (Photo, ca. 1899)

On July 14, 1832, the U.S. Congress commissioned Greenough to create a statue of Washington for display in the U.S. Capitol rotunda.[4] When the marble statue arrived in Washington, D.C. from Italy on July 31, 1841 it immediately generated controversy and criticism on its installation in the rotunda in December 1841. Many found the sight of a half-naked Washington offensive, even comical.

Because of the sculpture's weight and the dim light inside the rotunda, the statue was relocated to a pedestal on the east lawn of the Capitol in 1843. Disapproval continued and some joked that Washington was desperately reaching for his clothes,[5] then on exhibit at the Patent Office several blocks to the north.

The statue on display in the west wing of the Smithsonian Castle, c. 1920s or 1930s

The statue was brought back indoors to the Smithsonian Castle, after Congress authorized its transfer by joint resolution on May 22, 1908. It remained there until 1964. It was then moved to the new Museum of History and Technology (now the National Museum of American History). The statue has been exhibited on the second floor of the museum since then.

## Popular culture references

[edit]

The demigod/Baphomet-like pose of Washington is portrayed in Dan Brown's best-selling novel The Lost Symbol (2009), in which the author describes a hypothesis according to which Washington and the other Founding Fathers decorated the national capital full of Freemason or occult symbols.

The statue appears near the beginning of the 2013 first-person shooter, BioShock Infinite, set in an alternate 1912 where Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson are worshiped by the inhabitants of the floating city of Columbia.

## See also

[edit]

* List of monuments dedicated to George Washington
* List of statues of George Washington
* List of sculptures of presidents of the United States
* The Apotheosis of Washington
* George Washington, statue by Antonio Canova
* George Washington's resignation as commander-in-chief

## References

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to George Washington (Greenough).

1. ^ "George Washington by Horatio Greenough / American Art". si.edu. Archived from the original on 2013-10-19. Retrieved 2013-10-18.
2. ^ a b c "George Washington, (sculpture)". Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum. Archived from the original on September 24, 2012. Retrieved August 2, 2011.
3. ^ Garry Wills (March 1984). "Washington's Citizen Virtue: Greenough and Houdon". Critical Inquiry. 10 (3). The University of Chicago Press: 420–441. doi:10.1086/448256. JSTOR 1343301. S2CID 159821356.
4. ^ "George Washington by Horatio Greenough, 1840". National Museum of American History. 20 April 2017. Archived from the original on 2019-02-16. Retrieved 2019-02-16.
5. ^ "Smithsonian Press-Legacies-2Shrine to the Famous-George Washington, sculpture by Horatio Greenough, 1840". Smithsonianlegacies.si.edu. Archived from the original on 2002-11-11. Retrieved 2013-09-16.

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George Washington

* 1st President of the United States (1789–1797)
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Military career
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Other U.S.
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* Initiated, co-wrote, 1769 Virginia Association
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Memorials
and depictions|

* Washington, D.C.
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* Washington Monument (Boonsboro, Maryland)
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* George Washington (Houdon)
* plaster copy
* George Washington (Ceracchi)
* George Washington (Canova)
* George Washington (Greenough)
* George Washington (Trumbull)
* George Washington and the Revolutionary War Door
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* We Fight to Be Free (2006 film)
* Turn: Washington's Spies (2014–2017 series)
* The War that Made America (2006 miniseries)
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Related|

* Bibliography
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* Founders Online
* Founding Fathers of the United States
* Republicanism
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* Conway Cabal
* American Foxhound
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* Mount Vernon replicas
* George Washington Memorial Building
* Attempted theft of Washington's skull

Family|

* Martha Washington (wife)
* John Parke Custis (stepson)
* George Washington Parke Custis (step-grandson, adopted son)
* Eleanor Parke Custis (step-granddaughter, adopted daughter)
* Augustine Washington (father)
* Mary Ball Washington (mother)
* Lawrence Washington (half-brother)
* Augustine Washington Jr. (half-brother)
* Elizabeth Washington Lewis (sister)
* Samuel Washington (brother)
* John A. Washington (brother)
* Charles Washington (brother)
* Lawrence Washington (grandfather)
* Mildred Gale (grandmother)
* John Washington (great-grandfather)
* George Reade (2nd great-grandfather)
* Bushrod Washington (nephew)

Slavery|

* Washington and slavery
* List of enslaved people of Mount Vernon
* Betty
* Caroline Branham
* William Costin
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* Oney Judge
* Philip Lee
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* Category

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Public art in Washington, D.C.

Portrait sculpture|

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* National Cathedral
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* Daniel Webster

| American
Revolution Statuary|

* John Barry
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|

Civil War
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Statues of
the Liberators|

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Other monuments|

* Armenian Earthquake
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* Founders of the Daughters of the American Revolution
* Holodomor Genocide
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* Washington Monument

| War memorials|

* American Veterans Disabled for Life
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* The Homecoming
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* Vietnam War
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* Women
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|

Other works|

* Ad Astra
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* Always Becoming
* Arbre Serpents
* The Arts of War and The Arts of Peace
* Ascension
* Australian Seal
* Bearing Witness
* Bex Eagle
* A Bridge Across and Beyond
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| Architectural
sculpture|

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* Inspiration
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* Progress of Civilization Pediment
* Revolutionary War Door
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* Past and Present
* The Progress of Railroading
* Students Aspire

|

Fountains|

* Bartholdi Fountain
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* Oscar Straus Memorial
* Temperance Fountain

By location|

* Ward 1
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Related|

* Graffiti in Washington, D.C.

Key: † Removed

* Artworks commemorating African Americans
* National Statuary Hall Collection
* sculptures
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* Outdoor sculpture

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United States Capitol Complex

United States Capitol

House|

* House chamber
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Senate|

* Senate chamber
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Library of Congress|

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Individual features|

* Cornerstone
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* The Apotheosis of Washington
* Rotunda
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* Surrender of General Burgoyne
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* Abraham Lincoln (Bittinger)
* Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States
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* Washington at Princeton
* Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way
* Vice Presidential Bust Collection
* Ohio Clock
* President's Room
* Vice President's Room
* Congressional Prayer Room
* Old Supreme Court Chamber
* Washington's Tomb
* Visitor Center
* Lincoln Catafalque

Former features|

* George Washington as Zeus (sculpture, 1841–1908)
* Discovery of America (sculpture, 1844–1958)
* The Rescue (sculpture, 1853–1958)
* National Capitol Columns
* U.S. Capitol Gatehouses and Gateposts

Others|

* Art
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* Subway System
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