Flora
Statuette
1759 (made)
1759 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This is a model for the marble statue commissioned by Henry Hoare in 1759 as an accompaniment to a marble Herculescarved by Rysbrack between 1747 and 1752. Both statues were for the Pantheon, a lakeside temple in Hoare's landscape garden at Stourhead, Wiltshire. The marble Floracost Hoare £400. It is based on the Farnese Flora, a classical sculpture once owned by the Farnese family that is now in the Museo Nazionale, Naples. In the mid-18th century, small copies of the Farnese Flora were produced in quantity by London's Bow porcelain factory. Rysbrack's Hercules remains in the Pantheon at Stourhead, a property that today is in the care of the National Trust and open to the public.
Rysbrack (1694-1770) was born in Antwerp, and trained in the Netherlands, but spent his working life in Britain. He was one of the most important sculptors active in this country in the first half of the 18th century, and specialised in portrait busts and funerary monuments. Although he never visited Italy, many of his works are clearly indebted to classical archetypes. His terracotta models are particularly fine, and are often virtually finished pieces in their own right.
Rysbrack (1694-1770) was born in Antwerp, and trained in the Netherlands, but spent his working life in Britain. He was one of the most important sculptors active in this country in the first half of the 18th century, and specialised in portrait busts and funerary monuments. Although he never visited Italy, many of his works are clearly indebted to classical archetypes. His terracotta models are particularly fine, and are often virtually finished pieces in their own right.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Flora (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Terracotta, made from modelled clay |
| Brief description | Statuette, terracotta, Flora, by John Michael Rysbrack, London, 1759 |
| Physical description | She wears a classical garment, held on the hips by a narrow knotted belt, and with a cloak over her left arm. Her weight is on her right leg, the left being bent at the knee. In her left hand she holds a wreath of flowers, now broken. |
| Dimensions |
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| Credit line | Purchased using funds from the Hildburgh Bequest |
| Object history | Purchased under the bequest of Dr. W. L. Hildburgh, F. S. A., 1961. |
| Historical context | This terracotta is a model for the marble Flora, finished in 1761 and made by Rysbrack for Henry Hoare and still in the Pantheon at Stourhead, though it appears from the sculptor's letters of 1758 to another patron, Sir Edward Littleton, who eventually bought this model, that more than one model was made. |
| Subject depicted | |
| Summary | This is a model for the marble statue commissioned by Henry Hoare in 1759 as an accompaniment to a marble Herculescarved by Rysbrack between 1747 and 1752. Both statues were for the Pantheon, a lakeside temple in Hoare's landscape garden at Stourhead, Wiltshire. The marble Floracost Hoare £400. It is based on the Farnese Flora, a classical sculpture once owned by the Farnese family that is now in the Museo Nazionale, Naples. In the mid-18th century, small copies of the Farnese Flora were produced in quantity by London's Bow porcelain factory. Rysbrack's Hercules remains in the Pantheon at Stourhead, a property that today is in the care of the National Trust and open to the public. Rysbrack (1694-1770) was born in Antwerp, and trained in the Netherlands, but spent his working life in Britain. He was one of the most important sculptors active in this country in the first half of the 18th century, and specialised in portrait busts and funerary monuments. Although he never visited Italy, many of his works are clearly indebted to classical archetypes. His terracotta models are particularly fine, and are often virtually finished pieces in their own right. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | A.9-1961 |
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| Record created | February 26, 2003 |
| Record URL |
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