Canova's George Washington

Abstract

Canova was a prolific artist who received countless prestigious commissions--only one, however, from the United States. This was the commission from the North Carolina State House in Raleigh for a posthumous statue of George Washington. The fascinating story of Thomas Jefferson's role in urging the selection of Canova and determining key aspects of the statue, of the making and shipping of the statue to the United Sates, of its tragic destruction ten years later and its eventual replacement with the original plaster model, and later replacement with a marble reproduction by Romano Vio is a tale well told by Xavier F. Salomon, Peter Jay Sharp Chief Curator at the Frick, together with Mario Guderzo, Director of the Gypsotheca e Museo Antonio Canova, and Guido Beltramini, Director of the Palladio Museum in Vicenza.

Contents

Director's foreword -- Preface and acknowledgments -- "The Boast and Pride of North America": Antonio Canova's George Washington / by Xavier F. Salomon -- The Classical conception of Antonio Canova / by Mario Guderzo -- Jefferson, Italy, and Palladio / by Guido Beltramini -- Appendix -- Bibliography -- Index.