What did George Washington look like?
So what did America’s first President really look like? While we have many portraits of Washington, surprisingly, very few were created from life. Washington apparently hated sitting for portraits, thinking they were a waste of his time. For this reason, many images we see of him today are copies, and many of them look quite different from each other.
To watch the full video on YouTube, with history and a bonus re-creation, click here!
Will the real George please stand up? Although most of us think we know what George Washington looked like (the wig, the outfit…they both live etched in our American memory), when looking at the actual features of each man, they look like brothers instead of versions of the same man.
Luckily, in 1785,when Washington was 53, French sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon visited him at his Mount Vernon residence. His mission was to take a life mask - a plaster cast of Washington’s face - which he would then use to create sculpture copies (below right). The mask was used to sculpt what’s known as “Washington’s Official Likeness” - a lifesize sculpture located in the Virginia state Capitol (below left).
Lifesize sculpture of George Washington by Jean Antoine Houdon - located at the Virginia State Capitol. It is often referred to as George Washington’s Official Likeness.
George Washington’s life mask, taken by Jean Antoine Houdon. Houdon used precise pupil and eye measurements to approximate the appearance of the eyes while open. Image courtesy of the Morgan Library and Museum.
Based on physical descriptions from his lifetime, it’s not surprising that George Washington became someone of prominence. Standing over six feet tall, he would have been the tallest man in most rooms he walked into. In fact, a writer in 1790 said it was not necessary to announce his name when he walked in - everyone knew immediately who he was just by his appearance.
He was described consistently as having strong facial features. A heavy brow over his blue eyes, a firmly set jaw, and a somewhat large Roman nose. According to descriptions, he always appeared elegant and dignified, sometimes appearing to be deep in thought. But his charm was said to have been immense, “His smile was extraordinarily attractive.” wrote an anonymous source.
There are a few interesting myths about Washington’s appearance that have somehow persisted until today. The first is that he had wooden dentures. Washington did wear dentures in the later years of his life, but they were likely made of ivory. The myth that they were wooden originated in the 1800s, possibly because Ivory dentures became easily stained.
Washington’s fondness for drinking Port Wine was rumored to be a constant annoyance for his dentist who had to clean them.
Another misconception is that Washington always had white hair or wore wigs. He actually never wore wigs, preferring his natural hair styled in the fashion of the time, and sometimes powdered to appear white. In portraits of a younger Washington, his hair is naturally a reddish brown.
We actually have surviving locks of George Washington’s hair, which interestingly have sold at auction for almost $40,000.
I’ve used one of Houdon’s sculpture copies of Washington’s life mask for my re-creation. So let’s take a look at what America’s first president may have really looked like, now:
Left image photograph by Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP(Glasg) CC 4.0. Right Image Re-creation of George Washington from his life mask, Copyright Royalty Now Studios.
