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This media is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.
IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.
This media is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.
IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.
This media is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.
Artist
Unidentified Artist
Copy after
Jean-Antoine Houdon, 1741 - 1828
Sitter
Marquis de Lafayette, 6 Sep 1757 - 20 May 1834
Date
1971, after c. 1786 original
Type
Sculpture
Medium
Marble
Dimensions
With Base: 94 × 72.4 × 34.3 cm (37 × 28 1/2 × 13 1/2")
Topic
Costume\Dress Accessory\Epaulet
Marquis de Lafayette: Male
Marquis de Lafayette: Military and Intelligence\Army\Officer
Marquis de Lafayette: Military and Intelligence\Army\Officer\Revolutionary War
Portrait
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Restrictions & Rights
CC0
Object number
NPG.71.41
Exhibition Label
Born Auvergne, France
The nineteen-year-old Marquis de Lafayette left France in 1777 and crossed the Atlantic to support the American colonies’ fight for independence. While at sea, he wrote to his wife, “The welfare of America is intimately connected with the happiness of all mankind.” During the Yorktown campaign, Lafayette blocked General Cornwallis’s escape and forced his surrender. The Virginia legislature commissioned his bust in commemoration. This later copy represents Lafayette in the uniform of a major general in the Continental army, displaying the insignia of the Society of the Cincinnati, the fraternal order of Revolutionary War officers.
Nacido en Auvernia, Francia
El marqués de Lafayette dejó Francia a los 19 años de edad en 1777 y cruzó el Atlántico para apoyar a las trece colonias norteamericanas en su lucha por la independencia. Durante la travesía le escribió a su esposa: “El bienestar de América está íntimamente ligado a la felicidad de toda la humanidad”. Durante la campaña de Yorktown, Lafayette bloqueó el escape del general Cornwallis y lo obligó a rendirse. La legislatura de Virginia encargó un busto del marqués para conmemorarlo. Esta copia posterior lo presenta con el uniforme de mayor general del Ejército Continental, mostrando la insignia de la Sociedad de los Cincinnati, orden fraternal de oficiales de la Guerra de Independencia.
