Raimondo Trentanove (Italian, 1792-1832) white marble bust of george washington (1732-1799), 1824

Incised to verso, "R. Trentanove Fece in Roma 1824," the bust raised on rectangular white marble plinth.

H: 28 1/2 in. (overall)

Exhibited: Stony Brook, New York: The Museums at Stony Brook, George Washington, American Symbol, February 1999-February 2000.

Literature: Gustavus A. Eisen, Portraits of Washington, vol. 3, New York, 1932, p. 852, 945 (illustration of Paris version)
Lenox Library, A Guide to the Paintings and Sculpture Exhibited to the Public, New York, 1877, p. 22
New York Public Library, Catalogue of Paintings in the Lenox Gallery, New York, 1897, no. 2
R.W. Hill and L. Stark, "Washingtoniana in the New York Public Library," Bulletin of the New York Public Library, February 1961, p. 77

Trentanove executed this sculpture for bibliophile and philanthropist, James Lenox (1800-1880), who was known as "a worshipper at the Shrine of Washington." Lenox's collection of artwork and books constituted the Lenox Library and in 1895 became part of the New York Public Library.

Provenance: Property from a Private Pennsylvania Collection.

Sotheby's, Property from the New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations, November 30, 2005, Lot 12.