(Talk about an awesome name for our author!)
The Many Faces of George Washington: Remaking a Presidential Icon
Carla Killough McClafferty
ISBN: 9780761356080
Re-Read November 7, 2014
This one came back through the library system, and I actually took the time to read through it properly this time around, instead of simply admiring the artistry of the three mannequins that were created.
I suppose I ought to start from the beginning. So everyone's seen dollar bills, and we all know what George Washington looks like - old, grouchy, and sort of fat-faced. Except, that's only what he looked like after he WAS old, grouchy, and sort of fat-faced (most likely caused by inflammation due to those awful dentures). So - what did the people who VOTED for our very first President see in him? Sadly, we really haven't had any pictorial evidence - all of his portraits are from after he was old and tired, and the one life-cast taken of him was never really used for references, outside of the one specific statue that had commissioned it.
So a mixed group of awesome people got a truly stupendous grant to research this famous man, to use all the artistic and forensic and re-creative tools at our disposal to figure out what he most likely looked like at three different important points in his life: as a nineteen-year-old "nobleman" surveyor, as a forty-five-year-old General at Valley Forge, and finally at fifty-seven years old, taking the very first American Presidential Oath of Office. Pretty cool, right?
The absolute stand-out here is the care and dedication and EFFORT put into making these representations as perfect and accurate as possible for each age. It's a truly multi-disciplinary approach, and it is amazing how lifelike and much more interesting the results are than the boring old portraits on our currency.
Fair warning, if mannequins or uncanny-valley representations of faces and hands creep you out - steer clear!
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