Greenough, << GREE noh, >> Horatio (1805-1852), was the first American sculptor to gain international fame. He was also the first to study and work in Italy, setting a fashion among American artists that lasted for 50 years. Greenough’s best-known work is a monumental statue of George Washington (1840). The work was ridiculed in its time because it portrayed Washington as a Greek god, bare-chested, and sitting on a throne. Greenough also created busts of Americans and wrote about art and aesthetics. He was born on Sept. 6, 1805, in Boston. He died on Dec. 18, 1852. See also Sculpture (American sculpture) .
