Perth Amboy evening news., 1921-07-15
the age Of ffty-four, after he had weathered
the battles of the Revolution.
Masks In the Making

the age of ffty-four, after he had weathered
the battles Of the Revolution.
Masks in the Making.
The stories of Houdon's visit do not show
how he persuaded Washington to allow a mask
to be made. 1t is well known that a year or
artist, had painted washington and then re-
ceived permission to make a life mask. This
is always a trying operation. The subjects hair
must be oiled to keep the plaster from sticking.
and silk thread placed on the face so that 1t
can be pulled at the right moment to break
the cast. Arrangements must be made for
breathing. And then the plaster must be laid
on the features until the face is entirely covered
and the plaster hardens in the mold.
All the preliminaries the young artist man.
aged successfully. But when it cam to re-
moving the cast he was nervous. He was
aware, no doubt. that his distinguished sitter
must be uncomfortable beneath the stiffening
weight of plaster, and with scant opportunity
to breathe. At any rate, he removed the mask
too soon and it broke in a number of fragments
too small to be of any use. Washington is said
to have been so annoyed that the work had
gone for nothing that he vowed-one historian
says profanely-that never would he have
another mask made. Yet Houdon overcame
this antipathy, and his mask was perfect. 8
his contemporaries, and even before he became
president statues of him were being urged. The
~ tho seaeh = was W aPPa4se 20 Ty a ses so II 11s
The state wished to honor its most illustrious
citizen, and also it wanted a permanent souvenir
of him.. Jefferson, who was in France, was
asked to commission the best "statuary" in
Europe to preserve the face of the General.
He chose Houdon.
1t is said that the French sculptor was eager
to make also an equestrian statue of WASH
ington, which was urged as a national monu-
ment to be placed in 1.-THE residence of con-
gress.' Plans for this were delayed. and
Houdon never made the national monument
to the first President.
Immediately after Washington died congress
planned a monument for the rotunda of the
capitol and passed a resolution to ask Mrs.
Washington If the body of the former President
might. lie in the circular hall beneath the
rotunda. Mrs. Washington answered, giving
her permission. 1t was fitting, congress felt,
that the Father Of His Country should lie i'll
the center of the capitol, at the exact spot
which L'Enfant had marked as the center of
the city. 1t was also thought fitting that a
monument should be placed over the tomb.
But correspondence, plans, and committee meet
ings went on for thirty-two years without any
thing being done.
Then the proprietor of Mt. Vernon, John
Washington, refused consent to the removal OF
Washington to the capitol, and the incident was
regarded as closed. Plans for the monument,
however. were spurred up by his refusal. An
was commissioned almost Immediately to
execute in marble a full length pedestrian
of the rotunda of the capitol, the head to be
a copy Of Houdons Washington and the access
sories left to the judgment Of the artist"
Washington in Roman Dress.
Greenough proceeded to create the most
argued over statue of Washington that has ever
been produced. OF the features there was no
criticism. But Greenough chose to represent
the statesman Washington rather than the
soldier. and he dressed the figure in a toga, a
la julius Caesar. The figure was represented
sitting, with the waist practically bare, and
with a drapery covering the lower part of the
body thrown over one appraised arm. This con-
ception led to endless discussions, jokes, and
even to indignation.
Greenough scoffed at people who could not
appreciate the poetic or artistic in sculpture
and who were appalled, by a statue without a
shirt. But the weight of public opinion seemed
to be against him.
Long before when houdon was working on
his statue, Jefferson had written to Washington
asking in what costume he would like the
in the formal letter style of the time
that he was satisfied with whatever might be
judged proper. but that perhaps a servile ad-
herence to the garb of antiquity might not be
altogether so expedient as some little in favor
of the modern costumes"
Jefferson agreed with him and replied: Il
think a modern in an antique dress as just an
object of ridicule as a Hercules or Marius with
a periwig or chapeau bras"
After this correspondence, Washington was
represented by Houdon in the continental uni
form which he wore as Commander-in-Chief.
Washington's dislike of the Roman toga on
was held up to Greenough's discom-
future. The statue had almost a tragic career.
The career had started inauspiciously when the
twenty-one-ton statue could not be got aboard
a warship to bring it from Italy to the United
States without damage to the ship. A mer-
chant vessel was finally remodeled to accom-
the important cargo and the statue was
into the capitol with only a little injury to
the doors.
Inen, tne nSHt ~ the rotunua was Soou'
and the colossal Washington was removed to
the east plaza of the capitol. The statue was
not modelled for outdoor exhibition, and the
sculptor feared exposure to rain and snow
would cause delicate corners to split off. so
the figure had to be covered in winter by an
u~nsightly wooden hut. until finally all con-
troversy was closed by removing it to the
Institution.
This has left the capitol minus its monument
to the national hero. There are two copies
of Houdon's statue in the capital, and a bronze
bust by David DANGERS in the rotunda, but
no great, outstanding statue. The rotunda
beneath the dome is still awaiting the long
promised monument Of WASH
victories and achievements. y