Prayer at Valley Forge by Arnold Friberg

Arnold Friberg

(American, 1913-2010)

Prayer at Valley Forge, c. 1960

Arnold Friberg is best known for his work, The Prayer at Valley Forge (1960), widely reproduced and then hung in Washington’s home, Mount Vernon. It depicts a private prayer, held by General George Washington preceding the pivotal Revolutionary War battle. The moment was witnessed by Isaac Potts, whose home served as Washington’s headquarters during the battle:
“In that woods pointing to a close in view, I heard a plaintive sound as, of a man at prayer. I tied my horse to a sapling & went quietly into the woods & to my astonishment I saw the great George Washington on his knees alone, with his sword on one side and his cocked hat on the other. He was at Prayer to the God of the Armies, beseeching to interpose with his Divine aid, as it was ye Crisis, & the cause of the country, of humanity & of the world. Such a prayer I never heard from the lips of man. I left him alone praying. I went home & told my wife. I saw a sight and heard today what I never saw or heard before, and just related to her what I had seen & heard & observed. We never thought a man c'd be a soldier & a Christian, but if there is one in the world, it is Washington.” 

The next morning, despite his forces being undersupplied, diseased and facing a far larger army of British soldiers and mercenaries, Washington led his troops to victory and turned the tide of the war.

Upon completing his famous painting, Friberg was asked by a group of patrons to envision the work as a monumental sculpture, possibly for Valley Forge National Monument. While Friberg made dozens of small studies of The Prayer at Valley Forge Painting, none are large scale nor complete. The scale and fact that Friberg signed this work—unusual for the artist—shows that he thought of this as a complete, stand-alone work or art.

Graphite, pastel, and crayon on paper

28 x 39 in.

Signed lower right “A. Friberg”