A Study for an Unidentified Monument
Design
1770s-1780s (made)
1770s-1780s (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Design depicting a winged genius, or guardian spirit in Roman mythology, leaning sorrowfully against a funerary urn. On the front of the sheet of paper is a sketch for a plainer version of the monument [E.461:2-2010]. This design made in the 1770s or 1780s by Joseph Nollekens (1737-1823) is for a wall monument for an unidentified person. Nollekens is best known as the leading portrait sculptor in Britain between 1770 and 1815. With his fellow Royal Academicians Thomas Banks and John Flaxman he established the British School of sculpture following decades of dependence on immigrant sculptors (such as Rysbrack, Scheemakers and Roubiliac). Flaxman praised Nollekens as the only sculptor before Banks who had "formed his taste on the antique and introduced a purer style of art". Opportunities to study the antique were plentiful whilst Nollekens lived for eight years from 1762-1770 in Rome. As a draughtsman he was exceptionally well trained for his day.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | A Study for an Unidentified Monument (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Chalk on laid paper |
| Brief description | Design for sculpture by Joseph Nollekens, 1770s-1780s. |
| Physical description | Design depicting a genius leaning sorrowfully against a funerary urn. On the front of the sheet of paper is a plainer sketch for the monument. |
| Dimensions |
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| Production type | Design |
| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Object history | Historical significance: 'Nollekens is best known as the leading portrait sculptor in Britain between 1770 and 1815, and as the subject of the biography Nollekens and his Times (1828) by J.T. Smith. With his fellow Royal Academicians Thomas Banks and John Flaxman he established the British School of sculpture following decades of dependence on immigrant sculptors (such as Rysbrack, Scheemakers and Roubiliac). Flaxman praised Nollekens as the only sculptor before Banks who had "formed his taste on the antique and introduced a purer style of art". As a draughtsman he was exceptionally well trained for his day. He is also noted as a collector; he owned the three wax reliefs by Giambologna now in the V&A. The V&A's collection includes three busts by Nollekens, five of his terracottas, his marble copy after the antique, Castor and Pollux (1767)and his original marble of Diana (1778).' Julius Bryant on RF 2010/245. |
| Historical context | In the ca. 2009 edition of Gunnis's Dictionary of Sculptors in Britain, design is identified as 'Sackler priv. col.' |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | Design depicting a winged genius, or guardian spirit in Roman mythology, leaning sorrowfully against a funerary urn. On the front of the sheet of paper is a sketch for a plainer version of the monument [E.461:2-2010]. This design made in the 1770s or 1780s by Joseph Nollekens (1737-1823) is for a wall monument for an unidentified person. Nollekens is best known as the leading portrait sculptor in Britain between 1770 and 1815. With his fellow Royal Academicians Thomas Banks and John Flaxman he established the British School of sculpture following decades of dependence on immigrant sculptors (such as Rysbrack, Scheemakers and Roubiliac). Flaxman praised Nollekens as the only sculptor before Banks who had "formed his taste on the antique and introduced a purer style of art". Opportunities to study the antique were plentiful whilst Nollekens lived for eight years from 1762-1770 in Rome. As a draughtsman he was exceptionally well trained for his day. |
| Bibliographic reference | Roscoe, Ingrid, Hardy, Emma, Sullivan, M. G. A biographical dictionary of sculptors in England, 1660-1851. New Haven [Conn.]; London: Yale University Press, c.2009. pp.896-911. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.461:2-2010 |
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| Record created | August 24, 2010 |
| Record URL |
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