In a land where horsemanship was often men’s touchiest point of pride, Jefferson had to admit he never saw Washington’s like for grace and control in the saddle. A froniter runner and Indian wrestler — his friend George Mercer described his frame as padded with well-developed muscles
— Washington had by 1774 refined mere energy down to a grace of least movement, the higher athleticism of the dance. And he danced well.
Marquis de Lafayette
Oil on canvas. Stratford Hall, Home of the Lees of Virginia, Stratford, VA.
Oil on canvas; 93" x 64". Annapolis Complex Collection (in the old Senate Chamber at Maryland State House), Annapolis, MD.
Cast when Marquis de Lafayette was 28.
Based on the life mask cast by Houdon in 1785.
Marble. State Artwork Collection, Library of Virginia, Richmond, VA.
Bronze; H: 60 m.; W: 47 m.; D: 26 m. Musée franco-américain du château de Blérancourt, Picardy, France.
Terra cotta; 21 x 18 3/4 x 11 1/4 in. (53.34 x 47.625 x 28.575 cm). Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA.
Oil on canvas. Independence National Historical Park, Portrait Collection (Second Bank of the United States), Philadelphia, PA.
Inventing America: Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence (1978)