Statue of Washington

Inside Capitol Building

In 1784, the Virginia General Assembly commissioned a marble statue of George Washington and a marble bust of the Marquis de Lafayette, with the intent that the statuary would be placed in the new Capitol as symbols of public virtue from the Old and the New Worlds. These two statues were done from life by renowned French sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon. Lafayette was voted a citizen of Virginia by an “act of assembly” in 1785 for his valuable services on behalf of the Commonwealth during the American Revolution. Lafayette’s bust was received from France in 1789 and Washington’s statue was put into place in 1796.

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Statue of Washington

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