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Statue of George Washington (Trenton, New Jersey)

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Coordinates: 40°13′6.8″N 74°45′41.2″W / 40.218556°N 74.761444°W / 40.218556; -74.761444 (Statue of George Washington)
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George Washington
George Washington
George Washington Crossing the Delaware
George Washington is located in Mercer County, New Jersey
George Washington
George Washington
George Washington is located in New Jersey
George Washington
George Washington
George Washington is located in the United States
George Washington
George Washington
ArtistFratelli Gianfranchi
Yearc. 1876
MediumCarrara marble
SubjectGeorge Washington, George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River
Dimensions4.3 m × 2.3 m × 2.1 m (14 ft × 7.4 ft × 6.9 ft)
LocationMill Hill, Trenton, New Jersey, United States
Coordinates40°13′6.8″N 74°45′41.2″W / 40.218556°N 74.761444°W / 40.218556; -74.761444 (Statue of George Washington)

George Washington, also known as George Washington Crossing the Delaware, is a large 1876 marble statue by the Italian sculptor Fratelli Gianfranchi. The sculpture depicts General George Washington in a pose taken from the 1851 painting Washington Crossing the Delaware by Emanuel Leutze. It was owned by the banker Mahlon Dickerson Eyre and displayed at the Centennial Exposition of 1876 in Philadelphia. The statue is currently in the Mill Hill neighborhood of the city of Trenton in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States.[1]

History

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Around 1876, sculptor Fratelli Gianfranchi from Carrara, Italy, carved this large statue of George Washington from a single block of Carrara marble. It was modeled on the painting Washington Crossing the Delaware by Emanuel Leutze.[2][3] The owner of the statue was Mahlon Dickerson Eyre, a banker from Philadelphia, who was residing in Florence, Italy, at the time. He loaned this colossal marble statue to the 1876 Centennial Exposition, held in Fairmount Park in Philadelphia.[4] On April 25, 1889, the statue was sold at auction for $300 to George R. Whittaker, accompanied by two councilmen from Trenton, Edmund C. Hill and Lewis R. Lawton.[5] The Junior Order of United American Mechanics erected a granite pedestal for the statue in 1892.[1] On October 18, 1892, the statue was unveiled and dedicated as the Washington Monument in the newly created Cadwalader Park in Trenton.[6] The statue was located on a bluff facing the Delaware River, which Washington had crossed before his victory at the Battle of Trenton on the morning of December 26, 1776.[7] During the 1976 Bicentennial, the statue was relocated to a plaza near the Douglass House in the Mill Hill neighborhood of Trenton.[8] The house was Washington's headquarters on the night of January 2, 1777, after the Battle of the Assunpink Creek, the second battle of Trenton.[8][9]

Description

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Washington is shown standing in a boat, facing forward, with his right foot raised on the prow. He is wearing a Continental Army military uniform with a cape and a tricorner hat with cockade. A sheathed sword is hanging on his left side. His left arm is bent holding the cape. His right hand holds a telescope. The statue is 14 feet (4.3 m) high. The statue is on a granite pedestal. The front inscription reads: “This pedestal was erected by the Jr. O. U. A. M. and presented to the city of Trenton, October 18th, 1892”.[1]

  • Profile view
    Profile view
  • Profile from Leutze's painting
    Profile from Leutze's painting
  • Statue with pedestal
    Statue with pedestal

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "George Washington, (sculpture)". Inventory of American Sculpture, Smithsonian Institution Research Information System. Smithsonian American Art Museum.
  2. ^ "Daily Telegraph: A New Statue of Washington". Harrisburg Telegraph. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. August 18, 1876. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com. The statue was executed by Fratelli Gianfranchi, of Carrara, Italy, who modeled it from Leutze's masterpiece
  3. ^ "Letter from Philadelphia: The Centennial". York Gazette. York, Pennsylvania. March 28, 1876. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com. cut from one block
  4. ^ "He Couldn't Get Washington in a Ship-hold". The Philadelphia Times. April 1, 1876. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com. the colossal marble statue of Washington, which Mahlon Dickinson Eyre, American banker in Florence, Italy, will exhibit at the Centennial
  5. ^ "Centennial Relic Sold". The Philadelphia Inquirer. April 26, 1889. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com. A Heroic Sized Statue of Washington Crossing the Delaware Brings $300
  6. ^ "Monument Dedication. The Unveiling of the Washington Monument in Cadwalader Park This Afternoon". Trenton Evening Times. October 18, 1892. p. 1.
  7. ^ Lee, Francis Bazley (1895). "The Washington Monument at Cadwalader Park". History of Trenton, New Jersey. p. 126.
  8. ^ a b Sergejeff, Nadine; Tvaryanas, Damon; Burrow, Ian; Hunter, Richard (December 2002). "Present-day Land Use". The Assunpink Creek in Mill Hill. A History and Consideration of Historic Interpretive Opportunities.
  9. ^ Greiff, Constance M.; Kostrub, Nanci; Ashton, Charles H. (April 1977). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Mill Hill Historic District". National Park Service. p. 3.
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