An Allegory of Charity
Relief
ca. 1746 (made)
ca. 1746 (made)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
This is the model for a marble relief donated in 1746 by Michael Rysbrack to the Foundling Hospital. Established in London by the captain Thomas Coram in 1739, the Foudnling Hospital provided refuge, cared for and educated children abandoned by parents experiencing extreme poverty or other terrible maladies. The painter William Hogarth and the composer George Frideric Handel played an important role in promoting the hopsital, encouraging artists such as Rysbrack to donate their works and making the hospital as a fashionable location in London. Rysbrack was one of a numberof artists with close connections with the charity and was elected a Governor and Guardian of the hospital in 1745. The subject of Rysbrack's relief is appropriate as it depicts an allegorical figure of Charity carrying a child.
The Foundling Hospital still exists and was renamed the Thomas Coram Foundation for Children in 1954.
John Michael 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.
The Foundling Hospital still exists and was renamed the Thomas Coram Foundation for Children in 1954.
John Michael 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 | An Allegory of Charity (generic title) |
Materials and techniques | Terracotta painted grey |
Brief description | Relief, terracotta, an Allegory of Charity, by John Michael Rysbrack, England, ca. 1746 |
Physical description | An allegory of Charity in painted terracotta. Charity stands to the left of the centre suckling a child. Another child clutches her robe. To the left of the relief, at the base of a tree, three children are coiling the rope of an anchor, the stern of a ship is visible in the background. In the centre of the relief a kneeling woman milks a cow and to the right two children are gathering sheaves of corn. There is a vertical crack to the left of centre and other cracks in the bottom right hand corner. The cow's projecting horn is damaged. The relief is painted grey. |
Dimensions |
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Gallery label |
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Object history | Bought from M. Marcussen, for £185, in 1953. This was the model for the marble relief over a chimneypiece in the Founding Hospital, London. The model was bought by Sir Edward Littleton and sent to Teddesley Hall, Staffordshire in 1756. In 1759 Rysbrack supplied him with a drawing for a fireplace and frame for the relief. The museum possesses drawings by Rysbrack for a number of chimneypieces at Teddesley Hall, which was demolished in 1954. |
Subjects depicted | |
Summary | This is the model for a marble relief donated in 1746 by Michael Rysbrack to the Foundling Hospital. Established in London by the captain Thomas Coram in 1739, the Foudnling Hospital provided refuge, cared for and educated children abandoned by parents experiencing extreme poverty or other terrible maladies. The painter William Hogarth and the composer George Frideric Handel played an important role in promoting the hopsital, encouraging artists such as Rysbrack to donate their works and making the hospital as a fashionable location in London. Rysbrack was one of a numberof artists with close connections with the charity and was elected a Governor and Guardian of the hospital in 1745. The subject of Rysbrack's relief is appropriate as it depicts an allegorical figure of Charity carrying a child. The Foundling Hospital still exists and was renamed the Thomas Coram Foundation for Children in 1954. John Michael 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.58-1953 |
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Record created | June 28, 2000 |
Record URL |
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