I am reading a book called the Making of George Washington. This portrait is the one used for the cover art. Here's the story behind it: "In 1785, the renowned French sculptor Jeane Antoine Houdon visited Mount Vernon preparatory to creating his famous statue of George Washington for Virginia's Capitol rotunda in Richmond. The sculptor made life masks of Washington which he took to France. One mask was returned to the United States. It is a treasured artifact in the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York.
For the cover of his 1970 book The Making of George Washington, General William H. Wilbur commissioned artist Ruth Stedman Druliner to present Washington as he appeared in the prime of his years to the men and women of the young American Nation. By meticulous study of that life mask, the best known existing portraits of Washington and the recorded impressions of individuals who knew the living man, Mrs. Druliner produced this exclusive portrait."
When I saw this picture, it immediately grabbed my attention as having more life to it than any of the other portrayals I've seen of George Washington. I love the twinkle in his eye, which makes him look less stern, and thus more approachable, as his friends and acquaintances described him as being.
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