Focus on George Washington (Ceracchi) and explain the Legacy.
Washington refused to accept the gift of this bust from Ceracchi in 1795, though it was displayed in the president's residence until the sculptor presented him with a bill of $1,500 for it that spring, at which point the bust was sent back to Ceracchi. However, the bust was then bought by the Spanish minister, Josef de Jaudenes y Nebot, and shipped to Spain. It was next bought by Richard W. Meade, an art collector, who brought it back to Philadelphia. After his death, it was acquired by Gouverneur Kemble of Cold Spring, New York. Subsequently it was in the collection of the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. In 1904, it was purchased by John Lambert Cadwalader. After his death in 1914, it was bequeathed to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it is now displayed in the American Wing.In 1809, Thomas Appleton, an American consul in Italy, acquired the original plaster portrait bust. Later, this was used by the Italian sculptor Massimiliano Ravenna to create several marble copies. About 1816, one of these was bought by the White House for $80 and is now located there.In December 1815, North Carolina commissioned a statue of Washington by Antonio Canova. Thomas Jefferson recommended that he use this bust by Ceracchi as a model for the head. The statue was delivered in 1821 and displayed in the rotunda of the North Carolina State House, but both were destroyed by fire in 1831.The bust was also used as a model for engravings of Washington. One such engraving was included in the Life of George Washington by Washington Irving.
Corcoran Gallery of Art North Carolina State House Cold Spring, New York John Lambert Cadwalader Ceracchi Washington, D.C. Philadelphia Washington statue of Washington Italy Italian George Washington Washington Irving Gouverneur Kemble North Carolina Thomas Jefferson White House Richard W. Meade Antonio Canova Metropolitan Museum of Art