George Washington

John Quincy Adams Ward

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This statuette was cast after the final sketch model for Ward’s monumental statue of George Washington (1732–1799), erected on the front steps of the old Sub-Treasury Building (now Federal Hall) at Wall and Broad Streets in New York City. The monument stands where Washington took his oath of office as the first president of the United States in 1789. Here, Washington is shown right after being sworn in, his right hand extended to the spot where the Bible would have been.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.

Metropolitan Museum of Art