Oliver Cromwell (1599–1658) thumbnail 1
Oliver Cromwell (1599–1658) thumbnail 2
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On display
Image of Gallery in South Kensington

Oliver Cromwell (1599–1658)

Bust
1762 (made)
Artist/Maker
Wilton, Joseph (sculptor)
Place of origin
England (made)

Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658) was often represented in 18th-century British sculpture because of his central role in British history. This bust is probably based on a plaster cast of his face, made for his funeral effigy. It also shows Wilton's interest in and understanding of ancient Roman sculpture, which he had studied in Italy.

Cromwell is here represented as a military man with a breastplate ornated with lions and a Medusa head. The Medusa head was a common ornament on armours. It recalls the legend of Perseus killing the fearsome monster, Medusa, whose gaze had turned her enemies to stone. Perseus presented Medusa's head to Athena, Goddess of War, who fixed it to her shield so that it faced her enemies.

Joseph Wilton (1722-1803) was born in London, but trained in the Netherlands, France and Italy from 1744 to 1755. He was appointed Statuary to His Majesty George III in 1761, and in 1768 became a founder member of the Royal Academy. However in the same year he inherited a large legacy from his father and neglected sculpture thereafter; he went bankrupt in 1793.

Object details

Categories
Sculpture
Portraits
Object type
Bust
TitleOliver Cromwell (1599–1658) (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Marble
Marble
Brief description
Bust, marble, of Oliver Cromwell, by Joseph Wilton, English, 1762
Physical description
The sitter, who wears a cuirass, adorned with lions in relief on the shoulders and a Medusa head on the breast, turned his hand sharply to the right. His thinning hair falls in curls to his shoulder.
Dimensions
  • Height: 74.9cm
Marks and inscriptions
'OPUS./ JOSEPHI WILTON 1762'
Gallery label
(2021)
Joseph Wilton (1722–1803)
Bust of Oliver Cromwell (1599–1658)
Signed and dated 1762

The controversial military and political leader Oliver Cromwell was often represented in sculpture in the 1700s
because of his central role in British history. Here, he wears a military breastplate decorated with lions and a Medusa head. Wilton made several versions of Cromwell’s bust, probably based on a plaster cast of his face made for a funeral portrait. He exhibited the bust at the Society of Artists to great acclaim.

London
Marble
Credit line
Formerly in the Lansdowne collection
Object history
Purchased by the Museum from Alfred Spero, London, in 1930, for £70.
Subject depicted
Cromwell, Oliver
Summary
Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658) was often represented in 18th-century British sculpture because of his central role in British history. This bust is probably based on a plaster cast of his face, made for his funeral effigy. It also shows Wilton's interest in and understanding of ancient Roman sculpture, which he had studied in Italy.

Cromwell is here represented as a military man with a breastplate ornated with lions and a Medusa head. The Medusa head was a common ornament on armours. It recalls the legend of Perseus killing the fearsome monster, Medusa, whose gaze had turned her enemies to stone. Perseus presented Medusa's head to Athena, Goddess of War, who fixed it to her shield so that it faced her enemies.

Joseph Wilton (1722-1803) was born in London, but trained in the Netherlands, France and Italy from 1744 to 1755. He was appointed Statuary to His Majesty George III in 1761, and in 1768 became a founder member of the Royal Academy. However in the same year he inherited a large legacy from his father and neglected sculpture thereafter; he went bankrupt in 1793.
Associated object
A.72-1965 (Original)
Bibliographic references
  • Whinney, Margaret, English Sculpture 1720-1830. London: H. M. Stationery Off., 1971 p. 100
  • Whinney, Margaret, Sculpture in Britain 1530-1830. 2nd ed. London: Penguin, 1988 pp. 262, 460, note 26
  • Wilson, David, A bust of Thomas Hollis by Joseph Wilton RA: Sitter and artist revisited. The British Art Journal, 5(3), 2004, pp.4-26. pp. 17, 19
  • Bilbey, Diane and Trusted, Marjorie, British Sculpture 1470-2000: A Concise Catalogue of the Collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum. London: V&A Publications, 2002 pp. 163-4. cat. no. 220
  • Wilson, David, The rediscovered Mr Gladstone goes home: A bust of the statesman by Joseph Edgar Boehm. The British Art Journal, 7(3), 2006, pp.14-28. note. 34 on p. 27
  • Powley, E. B. The Cromwell Museum in Huntingdon. Huntingdon: Huntingdonshire County Council, 1965. p. 3. cat. no. 13
  • Throsby, J. Select views in Leicestershire, from original drawings: containing seats of the nobility and gentry, town views and ruins, accompanied with descriptive and historical relations. Leicester: J. Throsby, sold by W. Richardson, Strand.1789. I. p. 173 [2345.]
  • A catalogue of the paintings, sculptures, architecture, models, drawings, engravings, etc : now exhibiting by the body of artists, associated for the relief of their distressed brethren, their widows, and children, at Mr. Moreing's Great Room, in Maiden-Lane, Covent Garden. London : Free Society of Artists, 1766 no.221
  • Ward-Jackson, Peter. Le Siècle de l'élégance : la demeure anglaise au XVIIIe siècle, Paris : Musée des arts décoratifs, 1959 no.73
Collection
Sculpture Collection
Accession number
A.32-1930

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Record createdAugust 14, 2006
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O127087/oliver-cromwell-15991658-bust-wilton-joseph/
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