A special exhibition, “Canova’s George Washington,” opens 22 May 2018 at the Frick Collection in New York.
Commissioned in 1816 for the North Carolina State House, George Washington is the only sculpture Antonio Canova ever made for the United States.
The sculpture was unveiled in 1821 to great acclaim; it was unfortunately destroyed, though, in the 1830s by fire.
Canova, George Washington, plaster model. Image courtesy of Xavier F. Salomon/Museo Canova, Possagno.