Washington gets fresh look

MOUNT VERNON — The legs are a little spindly, and the shoulders somewhat slight for a man so often described as strapping. But even as a 19-year-old surveyor, George Washington exuded the good looks and dignified bearing that served him so well as a general and then as president.

Workers at George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate put the finishing touches yesterday to a painstaking re-creation of Washington at age 19, as well as a 45-year-old commander of the Continental Army at Valley Forge and at age 57, when he was first inaugurated president in 1789.

Mount Vernon officials want to reinvigorate the public perception of the Founding Father, which they fear is that of the stodgy, stern face on the dollar bill. They commissioned the life-size sculptures — at a cost of more than $1 million — to serve as a centerpiece for a new $95 million visitors’ center to open on the estate grounds next month.

Research on the project was meticulous. The estate hired an anthropology professor to do an age-regression analysis of Washington’s face calculating the changes that would have occurred as he aged and lost his teeth. They took detailed measurements of Washington’s tailored clothes to gain insight about his body shape.

The results are striking. The face of the future president shines through clearly in the 19-year-old model, exuding a liveliness and charisma that was documented by so many of Washington’s contemporaries.

Not everything about the models is flattering. The shoulders are rolled back and narrow and the hips are wide, giving Washington something of a pear shape even in the youthful model. The legs are indeed spindly, though some of that is hidden by the wardrobe. The pose looks a little stiff and almost affected. And the clothes appear formal for wilderness work, even in the Colonial era.

Ivan Schwartz, director of StudioEIS in Brooklyn, N.Y., which created the Washington sculptures, said the overriding concern was accuracy over image. Washington’s somewhat regal, almost foppish pose was consistent with posture in Colonial times.

Also, Washington was corseted as a child, which had the effect of rolling back the shoulders and pushing the chest forward, Mr. Schwartz said.

Mr. Schwartz said he and his team were careful to guard against “purposeful memory,” the re-imagining of Washington as larger than life that occurred after his death and seeped its way into some of Washington’s many portraits.

“I told our team at the outset that we were not going to be driven by artful interpretation; science and history would drive” the effort, Mr. Schwartz said.

As for the clothing, Mount Vernon director James Rees acknowledged that he was initially excited at the prospect of depicting Washington in buckskins as a young surveyor, as he was portrayed in some portraits. But further research showed that Washington most likely would have been dressed more formally, even when surveying in the wilderness.

“I hated to see the buckskins go, but that was just not a typical outfit,” Mr. Rees said.

The sculptures are finished with a beeswax solution similar to those used in wax museums.

Mr. Rees said people have varied reactions to the models — some say he looks like a bit of a dandy, others are struck by the maturity that shines through even in the youthful depiction.

Mr. Rees said he is amazed at how each likeness is so clearly Washingtonian despite the differences in all three models.

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