Fire destroys the North Carolina State House and Canova's Washington (1831)

On June 21, 1831, a fire destroyed the North Carolina State House in Raleigh and the marble statue of George Washington by Antonio Canova housed in its rotunda. The statue, commissioned in 1815 and installed in 1821, was lost in the conflagration. The event occurred during efforts to fireproof the building's roof.

Episodes

Background and detail

Background. The North Carolina State House in Raleigh housed a life-size marble statue of George Washington, sculpted by Antonio Canova in the style of a Roman general. Commissioned by the state in 1815, the statue was completed in 1820 and installed in the building's rotunda on December 24, 1821, during a ceremony attended by Governor Jesse Franklin and the legislature.

The Fire. Following a major fire in Fayetteville in May 1831, the state decided to protect the wooden roof of the state house with zinc sheets. On June 21, 1831, workers accidentally set the roof on fire while soldering nail heads to the zinc. The resulting destruction of both the state house and Canova's statue was described as an "Awful conflagration!" in The Raleigh Register on June 23.

Statue Context. The statue was the only work created by Canova for the United States. It was commissioned by the State of North Carolina in 1815 and completed in 1820. Canova died in 1822, before seeing the statue installed in North Carolina.

People involved

Sources

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