Contrary to Jefferson”s dark view, this portrait suggests that it is no crime to have ”the vision thing.” He turns his back to it and yet subsumes it by the uprightness of his posture he becomes a pillar himself of the future state. This confident expectancy is further suggested by the way Washington supplements the classical past, as represented by the column. It is there, he can see it, and we are invited to see it too. While Jefferson gazes in adoration upon the classical past, Washington is equally transfixed by the future-he appears even to be looking at his city, already built. ![]() ![]() he calmly gazes into the magnificent future prescribed by his design and echoed by the open sky in the background. The plan is presented as Washington”s brainchild. “A portrait of George Washington with the plan for the Federal City, engraved in 1793 by Edward Savage, shows how the delineation of a new and grand city lent credence to the image of Washington as ”King George” while celebrating the originality of Washington”s vision and its power to bend nature to his political design.
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