George Washington Statue, Richmond

The statue of George Washington in Richmond is an important piece of American history. It was sculpted by Jean-Antoine Houdon, a well-known French artist, in the late 1700s. The Virginia General Assembly ordered this statue in 1784, and Houdon started working on it the next year. It was finished by around 1791 or 1792 and was placed in the Virginia State Capitol in 1796.

Houdon was very thorough in his work; he even made a life mask of George Washington to make sure the statue looked exactly like him. This attention to detail has made it one of the most accurate depictions of Washington. The statue is life-sized, made from Carrara marble, and weighs 18 tons. It shows Washington standing with a cane in his right hand and his left arm on a fasces-a symbol of authority. He’s wearing his cape and has a sword, and there's a plow at the back of the statue, which connects him to his life as a farmer.

The statue mixes elements from Washington's civilian life and military career, reflecting his roles as both a farmer and a soldier. This is similar to Cincinnatus, a Roman leader who served as a dictator during a crisis and then went back to his civilian life, just like Washington did after the Revolutionary War. You can see the original statue in the rotunda of the Virginia State Capitol. There's also a copy of it in the United States Capitol Rotunda, showing Washington’s impact across the country.