Discover the Real George Washington: New Views from Mount Vernon

Although the face of George Washington is one of the most familiar in the portrait gallery of famous Americans, the younger generation actually knows little about the true personality and character of “The Father of Our Country.” This exhibit provides a new and refreshing perspective on Washington, his achievements and legacies, his family and his times, and, most importantly, his intellectual pursuits and entrepreneurial ventures. Washington’s story is told through full-scale figures, architectural… Show more models, decorative arts pieces, maps, manuscripts, paintings, and video productions. Discover the Real George Washington looks behind the familiar face in the hope that the strength of Washington’s personality, his intellect, courage and wisdom will remind us of who we are as a people and a nation.


The exhibit features three life-size models of George Washington that were assembled from a two-year forensic study where computer scientists, art historians, 18th-century garment experts, and a forensic scientist used technology and research from primary sources to measure and analyze portraits, sculpture, and Washington’s dentures and clothing. The project employed proprietary age-progression and regression techniques to create three depictions of Washington as a teenaged surveyor, commander-in-chief atop a white horse, and as the first president taking the oath of office. These lifelike wax figures, with real human hair that was implanted one strand at a time, are embedded in realistic settings – one even with animation – that re-create scenes in the woodsy Ohio Valley territory, wintry Valley Forge, and on the balcony of Federal Hall. The fascinating process of creating the figures is shown in a video by The History Channel, which also produced five other videos in the exhibition on religion, espionage, slavery, Washington’s dentures, and his state-of-the-art gristmill.




The exhibition is made possible by the generous support of The Donald W. Reynolds Foundation.
Local presenting support provided by William T. Kemper Foundation — Commerce Bank, Trustee.

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