Jason with the Golden Fleece (Thorvaldsen) from the 3rd century BC depicts Jason removing the Golden Fleece from the sacred tree. Thorvaldsen's work was initially executed for the Copenhagen Academy to demonstrate his progress; a marble version was subsequently commissioned by Thomas Hope, a wealthy English art patron. When Hope's eventual heirs dispersed his collection at Deepdene, Surrey, in 1917, it was acquired by Copenhagen's Thorvaldsen Museum at auction. Considered to be Thorvaldsen's breakthrough work, the statue's theme stems from a drawing of "Jason and the Golden Fleece" by Asmus Jacob Carstens but the esthetic of the nude figure is also inspired by the Apollo Belvedere
Golden Fleece Award in politics today." Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia, referred to the award as being "as much a part of the Senate as quorum calls and filibusters." William Proxmire, a United States Senator who represented the Democratic Party from Wisconsin, issued the award monthly from 1975 until 1988, his Senate retirement. In total, he issued 168 Golden Fleece Awards. Though some members of the United States House of Representatives asked Proxmire's permission to continue the award, he declined, saying he might continue to issue them as a private citizen. Other organizations patterned their own "Golden Fleece Awards" after Proxmire's. The