Plaque of George Washington 1776 - 1830

This is Gilbert Stuart’s plaque of George Washington. Stuart was one of the foremost portrait artists in America, and this image, though small, carries a heavy weight in American identity. It’s impossible to look at an image of Washington without thinking of the historical narrative that has been carefully constructed around him. This plaque invites us to consider not just the man, but the myth of the man. It's a story of revolution, leadership, and the founding of a nation, yet it's also one that omits the perspectives and experiences of enslaved people and Native Americans, whose lives were directly impacted by Washington's actions. The neoclassical style lends Washington a timeless quality, but it also serves to distance him, transforming him into an ideal rather than a person. Consider the emotional impact this has on how we perceive history, who gets remembered, and how their stories are told.