Bust of George Washington in the Entrance Foyer of the Museum at Morristown National Historical Park
For decades the marble bust of George Washington, which resides in Washington’s Headquarters Museum at Morristown National Historical Park, has been regarded as the work of Jean-Antoine Houdon, “the most famous of all French sculptors of the eighteenth century.” The Frenchman traveled the United States in 1785, to measure Washington for what Houdon believed was the most important commission of his career. After returning to France in late 1785, Houdon set about creating his portrait of Washington, which was eventually finished in January 1787. Recently however, research on this bust has questioned if it is an original Houdon or the work of his many imitators.
Bust of George Washington in the Entrance Foyer of the Museum at Morristown National Historical Park
For decades the marble bust of George Washington, which resides in Washington’s Headquarters Museum at Morristown National Historical Park, has been regarded as the work of Jean-Antoine Houdon, “the most famous of all French sculptors of the eighteenth century.” The Frenchman traveled the United States in 1785, to measure Washington for what Houdon believed was the most important commission of his career. After returning to France in late 1785, Houdon set about creating his portrait of Washington, which was eventually finished in January 1787. Recently however, research on this bust has questioned if it is an original Houdon or the work of his many imitators.