Apotheosis of George Washington

A black chalk drawing in soft grey tones shows a winged female figure in flight, lifting a laureled man upward toward the clouds above a stone altar. A bearded seated figure with a staff sits at right, while a warrior in a plumed helmet and a draped woman stand at left beside a column. Figures in the lower left look upward.

Look closer: A small carved relief head sits on the column at the upper left.

Artist

Etienne Pallière

Date

ca. 1799

Medium

Black chalk

Source

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Size

3771 × 3127 px

Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of William H. Huntington, 1883