Plaster cast of St James the Less, from Henry VII Chapel in Westminster Abbey, ca. 1505, cast by Domenico Brucciani ca. 1868

The bearded figure of St James the Less holds a book in his hands which he is perusing. Under his left arm is a staff.

Purchased from Domenico Brucciani for £3 10s. This was one of a series of casts purchased from Brucciani that were taken from the Henry VII Chapel (see inv.nos. 1868-25 to 69).

This series of casts were acquired as a set from Domenico Brucciani (1815-1880) the well-known London-based cast manufacturer (see Bilbey and Trusted, British Sculpture 1470 to 2000. A Concise Catalogue of the Collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 2002, p.303). I have been unable to find them listed in the catalogues of casts offered by Brucciani, and it is therefore possible that Brucciani may have been commissioned to take the casts.

This series of figures are taken from the original stone niche figures in the Henry VII Chapel in Westminster Abbey (see Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England) An inventory of the historical monuments in London, Vol 1, Westminster Abbey, 1924, pp. 63-5, plates 204-15). The casts are of the statues of saints, that stand on pedestals in elaborately carved niches. They surround the whole of the Henry VII chapel below the windows. Originally 107 figures were in place, but only 95 remain. The Chapel itself is renowned for its elaborate fan-work tracery roof.

The tomb of Henry VII (1457-1509) and his wife Elizabeth of York (1465-1503) in the Lady Chapel of Westminster Abbey is a recorded work of Pietro Torrigiano. The original tomb design submitted by Guido Mazzoni was rejected and Torrigiano was awarded the contract in October 1512. The construction was one of the principal concerns of Henry VII and was outlined in his will (PRO, E 23/3) reproduced with commentary by Margaret Condon, 'The Last Will of Henry VII: Document and Text' in T. Tatton-Brown and R. Mortimer, Westminster Abbey: The Lady Chapel of Henry VII, pp. 99-140 (NAL 603.AD.2065). The foundation stone of the new building was laid on 24 January 1503 and completed by 1509.

For a thorough examination of the sculpture in the Henry VII's Chapel, see P. Lindley, 'The singuler mediacions and praiers of al the holie companie of Heven': Sculptural Functions and Forms in Henry VII's Chapel', also in T. Tatton-Brown and R. Mortimer, Westminster Abbey: The Lady Chapel of Henry VII, pp.259-93, esp. 276-92 on the freestone figure sculpture. Lindley comments 'The Westminster programme is the largest surviving ensemble of figure-sculpture from early Tudor England' (p.280), and later 'All scholars are agreed, though that these figures are by far the most important surviving architectural sculpture of the early sixteenth century' (p. 267). Lindley also produces a plan detailing the location and names of all the figure sculptures (fig. 38 on p. 281) and discusses the placing of the figures. The authorship of the figures is according to Lindley, likely to be 'a single, extremely distinctive, sculptor, working in a large shop of imagers' (p. 288). The possibility of the sculptor/s being of Netherlandish origin is also discussed. The figures are stylistically similar to the extant bronze figures on the grate of the Henry VII and Elizabeth of York tomb. Two further terracotta figures directly related to those on the grate are also in the collections (see catalogue records for inv.nos. A.76 and 77-1949).

A plaster cast of the bronze effigy of Henry VII by Torrigiano also from the Henry VII Chapel is displayed in gallery 46A (inv.no. 1858-276).

This figure is a plaster cast copy taken from a statue in the Henry VII Chapel in Westminster Abbey, London. Ninety-five of the original images of saints remain in-situ, representing the most important surviving example of early sixteenth-century architectural sculpture in England. Casts like these were intended to provide easy access to great works of art, providing models for architects and craftspeople to study at a time when there was renewed interest in medieval art.

REPRO.1868-25