The statue of George Washington that stands in University Yard at George Washington University is one of many copies of an original marble likeness made by Jean-Antoine Houdon, the leading sculptor in France at the end of the 18th century. It shows the Founding Father in a classical and aristocratic pose, one leg slightly bent, his posture erect. His cape is draped next to him, he holds a cane lightly in his right hand, and he is staring into the distance, a reference no doubt to both his perspicacity and the prospects of the new nation.