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Giuseppe Ceracchi (1751-1801), artist

An ardent believer in republican government, Ceracchi was the first Italian artist of substantial importance to the development of American art. Born in Rome, he worked in Italy and England before visiting the United States in 1791-94. There, he created Neoclassic portrait busts of leaders of the American Revolution, including Benjamin Franklin (Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts), John Jay (Supreme Court, Washington DC), Thomas Jefferson (Monticello), George Washington with a Roman haircut and a toga (Metropolitan Museum of Art), George Clinton, again presented as a noble Roman (twice, Boston Atheneum and New-York Historical Society), and Alexander Hamilton. Died in France, where he was executed because of his revolutionary ideas.