getting to know

A view of the completed figure of the 19-year-old . George WashingtonBy Jeffrey H. Schwartz

n the spring of 2003, I found myself learning more Iabout our country’s first president and 18th century art, clothing, and dentistry than I ever dreamed likely. But there I was one day in April, sitting with Laura Fisher, executive director of French and Indian War 250, who was asking me if Figure 1. Bust of . I thought I could reconstruct a life-like replica of Images courtesy of Jeffrey H. Schwartz. George Washington in 1754.

52 WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA HISTORY | SPRING 2010 WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA HISTORY | SPRING 2010 53 A view of the completed figure of the 45-year-old That would be when he was 22 years old, a course I said I would take on the project, not hairline) and produced a terracotta bust— Washington on his horse . junior officer in the English militia stationed in only because it meant reconstructing George the face of which, I later figured out, must Western Pennsylvania. I had been working for Washington but also because it would the have been a replica of the life mask. He also some 20 years as the forensic anthropologist first time anyone tried to de-age an individual took body measurements for a marble statue with the Coroner’s (now Medical Examiner’s) without the aid of photographs and image- (Figure 1) that he sculpted upon his return Office of Allegheny County, which is how manipulating computer software. Only after to Paris that is so detailed one can see seams Laura found me. agreeing did Laura tell me that the authorities at in clothing and “impressions” of fingernails I’ve always been intrigued by the kind George Washington’s did not under tight-fitting gloves. In contrast to other of forensic reconstruction like in the movie allow anyone access to Washington’s bones. people of power, who wanted their likenesses Gorky Park—using clay plugs representing No bones? What’s a forensic anthropologist, portrayed larger than life, Washington insisted averages of soft tissue depths at different especially a skeletal specialist like me, to do? that the statue reflect his true height, which, landmarks of the skull and lower jaw as a guide The challenge deepened but I had to do this, at 6 feet, 2-1/2 inches (by my calculations), to transforming bone into a face—and thought somehow. Indeed, good fortune turned out to was still appreciably taller than the average this would be once-in-a-lifetime challenge. Of be on my side. man of that time.

ven if I had been permitted to measure these three- E dimensional representations of Washington I would have been too nervous to handle them, much less put the sharp tips of calipers upon them.

In 1785, internationally renowned French Even if I had been permitted to measure court artist Jean-Antoine Houdon declined these three-dimensional representations of an opportunity to immortalize Catherine Washington, I would have been too nervous the Great of Russia in favor of a request to handle them, much less examine with from Washington’s supporters to capture the sharp tips of calipers. Who wants to be the image of the former Commander of the the first person to damage the life mask of . Thus, when Washington George Washington? Someone else had was 53 years old, Houdon spent two weeks at already dropped the bust, fortunately not Mount Vernon. Any details of the visit that cracking the face, but a repair around the hair Houdon recorded were lost when his atelier in is very noticeable. Paris and everything in it were burned to the However, while lecturing at Arizona State ground during the French Revolution (1789- University on human fossils and evolution, 1799). We do know that Houdon followed I was introduced to a group, PRISM, Washington through his daily activities, which had been collaborating with physical making sketches and notes that would help anthropologists to scan bones in 3-D and then him imbue his work with the essence of his digitally measure and compare them. This subject. Houdon made a life mask (a positive was perfect for analyzing the life mask, bust, plaster replica taken from the plaster mold and statue, especially because no matter what made of Washington’s face just past the the measurements taken by hand, they would

Statue of George 54 WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA HISTORY | SPRING 2010 Washington. WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA HISTORY | SPRING 2010 55 fter Washington resigned... Nineteen-year-old Washington From letters, diaries, and other documents Washington’s own writing tells of his contracted smallpox while visiting his at Mount Vernon, we receive a partial picture of oral agonies, his ongoing attempts to scrape Ahe would not accept a dinner tuberculotic half-brother Lawrence on Washington’s “oral history.” His senior officer and otherwise keep clean teeth that were on Barbados. Yet no reliable portrait, much less in the British militia remarked of Washington their way out and those still firmly in place, invitation without first the life mask—the closest thing to realizing at age 25 that while he was tall, lanky, sinewy, and of his applying the latest poultices and being assured that the food Washington’s facial skin—depicts typical and strong, he was already so self-conscious other concoctions to retard his oral disease. signs of smallpox-induced scarification. The of his dental demise that he was reluctant to But his was a losing battle. By the early 1789, would be soft, not simplest conclusion, I thought, was that the speak for fear of exposing his blackened teeth. Washington had lost all but two teeth. By “dimple” in Washington’s cheek was his only Nevertheless, Washington, a self-confessed April 30, 1789, when he was inaugurated, requiring him to chew. visible scar, a small “souvenir” of his bout with walnut addict, would crack their shells with Washington retained only one: the lower right the disease. I wanted the detailed expressions his teeth. This had to have traumatized the second bicuspid. and poses for each Washington to be unique, ligaments and soft tissue investing these While Washington may have had a few Figure 2. The Mount Vernon dentures: the only surviving complete set. The plates so I digitally removed the scar, thereby teeth, providing a perfect breeding ground for more teeth when Houdon visited him, I am are made of lead; the teeth in the upper situating the 19-year-old Washington prior to bacterial infection that would then produce an certain he no longer had any front teeth. One never faithfully recreate a complex three- and the ears generally smaller than, say, at are horse (front) and cow (rear); the visiting Barbados. abscess requiring tooth extraction, which, in day, after months of studying the two Charles dimensional object, such as a face. There was 65. We also lose fat from our faces, especially teeth in the lower are human but not all The primary factor affecting Washington’s turn, would lead to bone loss. Willson Peale portraits of Washington at the no hesitation from PRISM about assisting with below the cheekbones and around the eyes, in their correct location. I dated these face was his decades-long struggle with tooth dentures to at least 30 April 1789; the my Washington project. which become more hollow looking or sunken decay and no doubt general infection of his manufacturer remains unknown. About this time a new education center as we grow older. In children of both sexes gums, which would have led to tooth loss, was started at George Washington’s Mount the bone of the upper rim of the eye socket primarily through extraction. After a tooth is Vernon Estate and Gardens. Laura introduced and the region above the bridge of the nose lost the surrounding bone then resorbs. With me to Executive Director James Rees, who is smoothly continuous. After puberty and complete tooth loss in the upper jaw, the envisioned—as centerpieces in the new exhibit especially in males, the bone in these areas bone that once extended fully down around hall—life-sized replicas of Washington at often thickens. With these facts in mind, it long tooth roots retreats to lie almost right three different ages representing important was relatively simple for me to conceptualize under the nose and on back. In the lower jaw, moments in the first president’s life. The the young Washington: manipulate the the bone thins from top to bottom by more youngest was Washington at 19 years old, scanned 53-year-old face to slightly reduce the than half and, especially in males, the angle when he was a surveyor in Virginia trying to length of the nose and overall size of the ears, at the back becomes softer looking and less support his mother and numerous half- and fill in the cheeks and around the eyes, and prominent under the skin, muscle, and fat. full-siblings. The second was Washington at flatten out the swollen bone “under” and I was certain that Washington’s jaws age 45, when he and his nearly disintegrated between the eyebrows. were fairly close to this condition when army suffered the winter at . In Houdon’s reproductions as well as in Houdon made the life mask and bust, which The third was 57-year-old Washington being reliable portraits of Washington, such as those I used with little alteration as the 57-year-old inaugurated on April 30, 1789, near what it by Charles Willson Peale and , Washington’s face. I also thought that loss of now lower Manhattan’s Wall Street. one feature stands out: a small depression in lower front teeth had contributed to the odd Scanning Houdon’s creations was the the left cheek. Some scholars have speculated shape of the inferior margin of his chin: it beginning of the reconstruction. Washington that this slight deformity resulted from was straight and very broad from side to side, was 53 years old when the life mask was infections that afflicted Washington’s teeth, but on a slant, from the right “corner” up to made and I needed to recreate a biologically gums, and jaws. If true, I would have expected the left. This contrasted with the narrower, believable 57-, 45-, and 19-year-old. If some degree of destruction of underlying bone symmetrically and downwardly curved chin Figure 3. One of the digitized Peale Washington had not suffered from decades of that would be evident in the life mask and bust Peale portrayed in the two earliest paintings portraits of Washington in his 40s with the tooth and subsequent bone loss, the process or any legitimate portrait of Washington as an we have of Washington, at 40 and 47 years old. scanned bust oriented so the facial features of de-aging would not have been as significant older man. But in all of these representations, , With such obvious facial remodeling occurring son of Charles align. Note the differences in the lower a problem. For instance, as you and I age, the right and left sides of Washington’s face face, particularly the lips and chin. in only six or so years, I needed another part of Wilson Peale (who the cartilage toward the tip of the nose and are not dramatically different in shape and the puzzle: his dentures. (Figure 2) painted over 60 portraits throughout the ears continues to grow. Thus contour. There was, however, another possible of Washington), followed in his at 19 years of age, one’s nose would be shorter explanation of that depression. father’s footsteps with his critically acclaimed portraits such as this one, painted six decades after the first president’s death. Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association, Bequest of Luisita L. Cofer. 56 WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA HISTORY | SPRING 2010 WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA HISTORY | SPRING 2010 57 ages or 40 and 47, and with the image of the I felt secure that morphing the scan of the 53-year-old burned into my brain, I had an bust’s face to the spatial relationships of facial epiphany. In the portraits, Washington’s chin features in the digitized portraits would lead to was narrow and rounded, its distance from the the best reconstruction of the face of 45-year- nose greater, and his lips less wide and relaxed. old Washington. From this three-dimensional Ellen Miles, the curator of 18th century face, I could “de-age” him to 19 years of age art at the National Portrait Gallery, had alerted in nose, cheeks, and brow. For individuality me to Peale’s tendency to paint his subjects I removed the smallpox scar. I also created a with oval faces. When I sought to verify my strong, well-defined angle at the back of the visual observations, I scanned only the major lower jaw because it would be another four facial features of the portraits (eyes, brows, or five years before Washington began to nose, lips, chin) before importing each 2-D file lose teeth and because, although strong and into the field of the scanned 3-D face of the active, he would not have reached full physical bust. I then oriented the scanned bust until it maturity, especially in muscle mass. For all aligned with Washington’s pose in the scanned reconstructions, I used the scanned bust to Figure 7. The clay version of the 19-year-old’s head portrait. I did not know that comparing complete the head and neck. with his facial features and expression defined. 2- and 3-D digital images was a first. I was Recreating the bodies was by comparison satisfied to discover that my visual evaluation a relatively simple task. As with the bust, life aristocratic background, as were his of differences between the 53-year-old and mask, and dentures, PRISM scanned the statue contemporaries such as Thomas Jefferson, 40-something Washington was confirmed and worked with me to manipulate the digital , and Benjamin Franklin. This, as (Figure 3). I attribute the greater distance from images. But I needed to check on whether the Linda told me, meant that Washington would nose to chin in the younger Washington to the statue was close to Washington’s own body have been corseted until the age of five in order presence of at least some of his front teeth, both in length (for instance, not just total to produce a body in which the shoulders were which would also explain why his lips then height, but of upper versus lower arms as well pulled down and back and the inward curve were relaxed rather than widely and tautly as legs) and in girth. Here, Linda Baumgarten, in the lower vertebral spine accentuated. drawn, as they are in the life mask and would Colonial Williamsburg’s 18th century clothing This manipulation created a torso with a have been as they strained to keep his dentures expert, provided invaluable help. long sloping neckline and shoulder blades in place. First, regardless of his down-to-earth that lay flat across the back. The lower spinal persona, Washington was still of English curvature accentuated the bulge of the belly, even if one was not fat. The statue captured all of this detail. Even though these boys were apparently not corseted beyond five years of age, it was sufficient to forever alter the nterestingly, the length or linear shape of their torsos. Consequently, all of my reconstructed Washingtons had this ballet- I measurements of arms, legs, and dancer appearance. parts of the torso were virtually The other important aspect of reconstructing the body was that, being identical. So the lanky-armed a “gentleman,” Washington would have worn form-fitting clothing. For instance, his and -legged Washington represented waistcoat would have hugged his chest, belly, and waist, his coat his shoulders and its sleeves in the statue was realistic. his arms, his gloves his hands, his breeches the area around his knee, and his boots his Figure 4. The digital reconstruction Figure 5. The digital reconstruction Figure 6. The digital reconstruction calf. Unfortunately, there are no surviving of the 19-year-old Washington. of the 45-year-old Washington. of the 57-year-old Washington.

58 WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA HISTORY | SPRING 2010 WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA HISTORY | SPRING 2010 59 documented gloves, boots, or shoes (and in A possible answer emerged when I returned to Washington began to change his diet to softer, any case there was no difference between Washington’s own writing. more easily swallowed food. Fat, suet, bone right and left shoe casts at that time). For that After Washington resigned his marrow, and the like, which begins to dissolve matter, there were no hats or eyeglasses, except commission from the Continental Army and in the heat of one’s mouth, was probably for a pair of magnifying spectacles one could returned to his farming, fishing, and distillery becoming more prevalent in his diet. But even buy “off the rack,” as today in any pharmacy ventures, and then through his two terms an active man, as Washington clearly was, has chain store. as president, he would not accept a dinner caloric limitations, and it appears that Peale, But there is clothing that is well invitation without first being assured that Washington’s friend and comrade since militia documented as having been Washington’s the food would be soft, not requiring him to days, captured this in his portraits. The scene and not tailored to fit another individual chew. Although macerators—manufactured that Mount Vernon’s Jim Rees envisioned later on. Linda and I measured Washington’s “jaws” with blades imbedded in them—were for Washington at Valley Forge had him clothing, most of which dates to the period of common in the 19th century as devices to on horseback (most likely riding Blueskin, his inauguration and after, using landmarks chop up food so a toothless individual could although was later his favorite horse), also visible in the Houdon stature. The length manipulate it with the tongue and then so my reconstruction had to embrace not only or linear measurements of arms, legs, and swallow, their use during the 18th century the further exaggeration of the lower back parts of the torso were virtually identical, so is not documented. I discovered during this that sitting alone would produce but also the lanky-armed and -legged Washington represented in the statue was realistic. Differences lay particularly in girth of torso and thigh, indicating that Washington was a bit “thicker” than in the statue, although not irst, regardless of his appreciably so. The scan of the statue was down-to-earth persona, adjusted accordingly. Since the clothing was F the same vintage as the inauguration, I knew I Washington was still of English “had” the body of Washington (Figure 4). What of the younger representations of aristocratic background. Washington? Envisioning the 19-year-old surveyor was straightforward. After assuming the presidency, and especially during his project that it would have been impossible for Washington’s abdominal expanse (Figure 6). second term, when he was under extreme Washington to use his dentures, particularly After the faces and bodies reached my stress from detractors that included Thomas those preserved at Mount Vernon, for standard of acceptability, then came the more Jefferson, Washington was noted for being anything but filling space between his nearly arduous task of manipulating the computer thin, as his clothing attests. As a young man toothless jaws, so he probably took them out software to imbue each face with the expression not yet hormonally and physically mature, before dining. No wonder he preferred soft, and each body with the pose, poise, and energy Washington would have been even thinner, mushy, dissolvable foods. that I thought best reflected each moment in lankier, and more sinewy. Hours of tedious More of my staring at the Peale portraits time. Consequently, the surveyor has a slight computer manipulation finally produced a of Washington at 40 and 47 years eventually smile around the eyes and corners of his lips as figure I considered realistic (Figure 5). led me to another epiphany: Washington had he looks up and out into the unknown future. For the 45-year-old, clues came in a belly. Not just the abdominal exaggeration The commander at Valley Forge has to pull two different ways. I again turned to the caused by his artificially curved lower spine, together every ounce of the charisma he had Peale portraits of the 40- and 47-year-old but a bit of a paunch that was made more to keep the Continental Army going under the Washington. There was something about prominent by his long and lanky arms and direst of conditions. And, having rejected an them I could not figure out: he looked legs. Perhaps, I thought, this was when offer to become king, the president-elect found different than the man in the statue, but how?

Left: The 57 year-old Washington being sworn in as the first U.S. president.

60 WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA HISTORY | SPRING 2010 WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA HISTORY | SPRING 2010 61 himself at a ceremony that would charge him discussing the feeling I thought each face had with an office and government that had not to project, Stu met me halfway—not only in ever before existed. “doing” George Washington but in working With the images as close as I could get to with a perceived “non-artist.” Eventually our my expectations, I went with PRISM folks to collaboration resulted in the facial expressions a company in northern California with which I had hoped for. they had worked in converting digital images The studio, Studio Eis, proposed to mold into tangible representations. This is done by the faces out of plaster but I objected. After so cutting up the virtual image into sections and much intensive thought and labor, why cut using the data from each section to inform financial corners now? So Madame Tussauds, something like a huge lathe to carve that here we come. After each head had been particular piece from a block of high-density sculpted to my specifications, it was molded Styrofoam. In this case, I got a head, a torso, again. Layer after thin layer of liquid wax was and parts of limbs that then had to be put carefully poured into each mold, which was Figure 8. The wax replica of the clay 19 year-old’s head with the together. Although the body parts came out rotated in order to achieve uniform thickness. implanted hair and wig behind, hand-painted glass eyeballs in place, fairly close to what I had created in the digital Each “eggshell” of a face was then implanted and finishing touches to the skin still being painted. world, the detail of the faces, and in particular with real hair, as close to Washington’s color the expressions I had worked on so long, did as possible, sufficiently behind the hairline that my reconstructions are but also how each not. Nevertheless, according to plan, the three a wig placed behind would not be perceptible. one is George Washington, I burst with pride. Styrofoam Washington manikins were packed Then glass eyeballs, each pair reflecting the While I cannot envision another project ever carefully and shipped to an artists’ studio in piecing egg-shell blue of Washington’s irises rivaling the challenge and national significance Brooklyn with whom I worked, turning my but also the discoloration of the surrounding of this one, I will be forever grateful that I had conceptualizations into life-like replicas of our white that emerges with age, were “implanted” this opportunity. first president. from behind and the facial details of color, tiny Since the heads would be the most blood vessels, and beard stubble painted onto Jeffrey H. Schwartz is professor of Physical visible parts, this is where we concentrated the wax face (Figure 8). Last, although hardly Anthropology and of History and Philosophy our efforts. Each Styrofoam head was molded least, was the task of getting the clothing not of Science at the University of Pittsburgh. His decades-long association with the Allegheny and clay packed into each mold. I then only as it would have been in each moment, Medical Examiner’s Office led to this once-in-a- collaborated with sculptor Stu Williamson to but of sewing it onto each manikin. lifetime project. bring detail back into these faces and ensure As you can imagine, this was not an that the expression in each was as I had intellectually or interpersonally simple project I thank James Rees, executive director, Mount Vernon Estate and envisioned (Figure 7). Stu was feisty about this to enact, but we did it. Every time I overhear Gardens, for entrusting me with this project and permission to reproduce images I took during this work. I also thank the many institutions whose curators made their Washington artifacts available process but, after hours of back and forth and someone comment not only on how lifelike for study.

s you can imagine, this was not an Aintellectually simple or interpersonally simple project to enact. But we did it.

62 WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA HISTORY | SPRING 2010