In 1832, the U.S. Congress commissioned Horatio Greenough to sculpt a marble statue of George Washington. Greenough based the statue on the classical Greek statue of Zeus.

The controversial statue arrived at the Capitol Rotunda nearly 10 years later. Many found the half-nude Washington statue offensive and it was removed and relocated. Between 1843 and 1908 it was put on display at the Patent Office in Washington, D.C. In 1908 the Smithsonian became the new home of the marble statute. It was on display there until it was moved to its current location on the second floor of the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C., in 1964. It is now on display on the museum's second floor.http://www.smithsonianlegacies.si.edu/objectdescription.cfm?ID=66

In Dan Brown's novel The Lost Symbol, the George Washington-Zeus statue is mentioned. The book, which focuses on the link between Freemasons and Washington, D.C., calls attention to the fact that George Washington was in fact a freemason, as were many notable figures in American history.http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/destinations/usa/article6848959.ece

The book also talks about a fresco called The Apotheosis of Washington that is located on the ceiling of the Capitol Rotunda in Washington, D.C. The painting, which looks like a classical renaissance painting, shows George Washington's ascension to heaven, surrounded by 13 females.

The painting depicts his "apotheosis" or his transformation into a God. Around the outside of the fresco is a series of scenes depicting different concepts like Science, which depicts the Goddess Minerva teaching Samuel Morse and Benjamin Franklin and Commerce, which shows the God Mercury giving a bag full of money to Robert Morris, who had financed the American Revolution. Each of the scenes features Gods or Goddesses and important contributors to society of the time.http://www.aoc.gov/cc/art/rotunda/apotheosis/Overview.cfmhttp://www.aoc.gov/cc/art/rotunda/apotheosis/Overview.cfm