Richard Westmacott
Sir
Richard Westmacott, Jr.,
RA (
1775–
1856) was a
British sculptor. He studied under his father, Richard Westmacott the Elder, before going to
Rome in 1793 to study under
Antonio Canova. Upon returning to England in 1797, he set up a prodigious studio and began exhibiting at the
Royal Academy, where his diploma work,
Jupiter and Ganymede, can still be seen. He was made a Royal Academician in
1811 and was professor of sculpture at the RA from 1827. He received his knighthood in
1837.
Among his works are the reliefs for the north side of
Marble Arch, the sculptures of figures representing 'The Rise of Civilisation' on the pediment of the
British Museum, and the
Waterloo Vase now in
Buckingham Palace Gardens. The enormous urn was sculpted from chunks of
marble earmarked by
Napoleon for a trophy commemorating his imagined victory in the
Napoleonic Wars and then given to
George IV as a gift from the
Grand Duke of Tuscany. Westmacott also sculpted
memorials to
Pitt the Younger and
Charles James Fox in
Westminster Abbey; and to
Nelson at
Bull Ring, Birmingham,
Liverpool and
Barbados.
Westmacott lived and died at 14 South Audley Street,
Mayfair, London (commemorated by a
blue plaque). His son,
Richard Westmacott (the younger), followed closely in his footsteps becoming a notable sculptor, Academician and RA professor of sculpture.
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Nelson and his ship, The Bull Ring, Birmingham |
