George Washington - City Hall, Chicago, IL
Posted by: 
adgorn
N 41° 53.034 W 087° 37.932
16T E 447547 N 4637079
A bronze replica, cast in 1917, of a 1788 marble original statue by French sculptor Jean Antoine Houdon.
Waymark Code: WMBW9B
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 06/26/2011
Views: 2
In front of the Mayor's Office on the 5th floor. This casting was purchased by the B.F. Ferguson Fund in 1925 and is on loan from the Art Institute of Chicago. Inscription on the side says: "Copied from the original Houdon in the State Capitol at Richmond by special permission of the General Assembly of Virginia." You can see that original statue here:
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visit link)
From the Smithsonian website:
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visit link)
"George Washington is portrayed standing, his proper left arm resting on a tall column, actually a fasces, a bundle of rods used as a badge of authority by Roman magistrates; 13 rods signify the original 13 colonies. A sword is hung from them and a plow leans against the column. He is clothed in the uniform of the Continental Army.
This work is a cast of Houdon's original 1788 marble sculpture in the Virginia State Capitol at Richmond. Gorham Manufacturing Company was authorized to make 22 bronze copies of the marble statue. These can be found in cities worldwide. The Chicago copy was installed in 1917 and purchased in 1925 by the B. F. Ferguson Monument Fund. It stood for many years on the Michigan Avenue entrance steps of the Art Institute, but was moved into the lobby in 1979 to protect it from air pollution."
Now it is located in City Hall.