George Washington's Eye: Landscape, Architecture, and Design at Mount Vernon

Manca, Joseph

ISBN 10: 142140432X / ISBN 13: 9781421404325

Published by Johns Hopkins University Press, 2012

About this Item

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Bibliographic Details

• Title: George Washington's Eye: Landscape, Architecture, and Design at Mount Vernon
• Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
• Publication Date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 142140432X
• ISBN 13: 9781421404325
• Binding: hardcover
• Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

Explore the beauty and history of Mount Vernon―and the inquisitive, independent mind of its famous architect and landscape designer.

Winner of the John Brinkerhoff Jackson Book Prize of the Foundation for Landscape Architecture

On the banks of the Potomac River, Mount Vernon stands, with its iconic portico boasting breathtaking views and with a landscape to rival the great gardens of Europe, as a monument to George Washington’s artistic and creative efforts. More than one million people visit Mount Vernon each year―drawn to the stature and beauty of Washington’s family estate.

Art historian Joseph Manca systematically examines Mount Vernon―its stylistic, moral, and historical dimensions―offering a complete picture of this national treasure and the man behind its enduring design. Manca brings to light a Washington deeply influenced by his wide travels in colonial America, with a broader architectural knowledge than previously suspected, and with a philosophy that informed his aesthetic sensibility.

Washington believed that design choices and personal character mesh to form an ethic of virtue and fulfillment and that art is inextricably linked with moral and social concerns. Manca examines how these ideas shaped the material culture of Mount Vernon.

Based on careful study of Washington’s personal diaries and correspondence and on the lively accounts of visitors to his estate, this richly illustrated book introduces a George Washington unfamiliar to many readers―an avid art collector, amateur architect, and leading landscape designer of his time.

About the Author

Joseph Manca is the Nina J. Cullinan Professor in the Department of Art History at Rice University. He is author and editor of a number of books, including The Art of Ercole de' Roberti, Titian 500, and Andrea Mantegna and the Italian Renaissance.