In 1820, the preeminent neoclassical sculptor Antonio Canova completed a marble sculpture of George Washington that divided many viewers. Dressed as a Roman emperor, the over life-sized, seated Washington appears middle-aged, relaxed, and confident as he contemplates what he’s written on the tablet he holds.
Canova inscribed “To the Great Nation of the United States of America” on the bottom of the sculpture.
Thomas Jefferson had suggested that Canova, an Italian, create the work because he deemed no American sculptor capable; however, not everyone agreed with that sentiment. When the marble first came to the Hall of the Senate in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Dec. 24, 1821, opinions differed. The Raleigh Register viewed it as “Doubtless the best specimen of the fine arts in the United States,” while American historian R.D.W. Connor, in his 1910 history of the sculpture, wrote that some viewers accused Canova of “Romanizing the American general, declaring it to be a better statue of Julius Caesar than of George Washington.”…