Canova's George Washington

About this book

This fascinating book tells the story of a little-known masterpiece by the Italian sculptor Antonio Canova (17571822)the statue of George Washington for the North Carolina State House delivered in 1821 and destroyed by fire ten years later. It brings together for the first time Canovas full-sized preparatory plaster model sketches engravings drawings and a selection of letters about the commission some of them to or from Thomas Jefferson. This is a major addition to the current body of published knowledge on the work of Antonio Canova as well as on the classical revivalist sculpture of the early nineteenth century on both sides of the Atlantic.