Frieze, The Ancient Drama and the Modern Drama.

Object Type
This is a cast from the model for one of the friezes John Flaxman was commissioned to design for the façade for Covent Garden Theatre in 1809. The friezes were cut in stone by John Charles Rossi (1762-1839). Although the building was damaged by fire in 1856, the friezes were saved, and inserted in the new building designed by E. M. Barry (1830-1880). This plaster frieze was once owned by the sculptor James Sherwood Westmacott (1823-1900), whose grandson donated it to the V&A in 1968.

Subject Depicted
This half of the frieze represents Ancient Tragedy: the Greek dramatist Aeschylus is seated on the left; next to him stands Bacchus with a faun, then the seated and helmeted Athena. Melpomene; the Muse of Tragedy stands behind. Two Furies pursue Orestes, who flees for protection towards the chariot of Apollo. The friezes are among the first works of art made in Britain to show the influence of the Parthenon marbles, which Flaxman had inspected at the Park Lane home of Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin, in 1807. Elgin had recently acquired these marbles in Athens and shipped them to London. Apollo's chariot and horses on the right of this plaster cast are particularly reminiscent of the Elgin marbles.

People
John Flaxman (1755-1826) was one of the most important British artists of the late 18th century and early 19th, and the only sculptor to whom Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792) dedicated one of his celebrated Royal Academy Lectures. Flaxman was the son of a sculptor and demonstrated his skill as an artist from an early age. He enrolled at the Royal Academy Schools in 1770, and in 1775 worked alongside his father for the potter Josiah Wedgwood (1730-1795), designing cameos, reliefs and friezes for ceramic production. In 1787 he went to Rome, where he was to spend seven years, studying and working on commissions for British patrons. On his return he exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy, and executed a large number of church monuments. He was also commissioned by George IV to make drawings for the exterior of Buckingham Palace and the Marble Arch.

Materials & Making
This plaster was cast from one of the models for the finished frieze in stone. For a large-scale piece of decorative architectural sculpture, the initial design would be a drawing. Subsequently this might be roughed out on a small scale in clay, or sometimes wax, and a plaster cast taken from this. The small-scale plaster could then be enlarged to the finished size, either in plaster, which would then be used for transfer of the composition to marble, or direct to the marble.