John GibsonNarcissus, 1838
Royal Academy of Arts, London
Exhibition guide
This exhibition presents some of the finest works of sculpture acquired by British patrons between 1760 and 1860.
The style embodied in these objects has traditionally been called Neoclassicism. This term evokes a new imaginative involvement with the ancient world and the revival in art of the classical ideal, characterised by order, harmony and timeless beauty. Artists used the human body to represent idealised version of feminine grace, youthful elegance or masculine vigour. Although classical art was a key influence, these sculptors did not simply copy antique prototypes. They also looked for inspiration at more recent art, and tried to rival the masters of the past in the skill and originality of their productions.
Neoclassicism was a cosmopolitan phenomenon. Many British sculptors spent time in Rome, where they could encounter ancient art at first hand. The city also attracted numerous British art patrons, and the exhibition contains works bought by them from Italian, Swedish, Danish and American artists as well as British sculptors.
The exhibition occupies the three monumental spaces at the heart of Tate Britain - the Duveen galleries. The objects on show have been loaned from public and private collections across the UK, and from Sweden and America.
Selected works from this exhibition:
Thomas BanksThe Falling Giant 1786
Royal Academy of Arts, London
The story illustrated here probably comes from the Greek legends concerning the giants who were the rebel sons of Heaven and Earth. After piling up rocks to reach Olympus (the mountain home of the gods) they were defeated by the hero Heracles (Hercules), and crushed beneath falling rubble and volcanoes. This was Banks’s Diploma Work, the show-piece presented to the Royal Academy by every artist on being elected a Royal Academician.
Thomas BanksThetis dipping Achilles into the River Styx 1790
V&A Images / Victoria and Albert Museum
This sculpture shows Achilles, the hero of Homer's Greek epic The Iliad, as an infant, being dipped in the river Styx by his mother, Thetis. The waters made him invulnerable, apart from the small area on his heel where Thetis holds him, hence the phrase, 'Achilles' heel'. The head of Thetis is a portrait of Jane, the wife of Thomas Johnes (1748-1816), who commissioned this sculpture. The head of Achilles is that of their baby daughter, Mariamne.
John GibsonNarcissus, 1838
Royal Academy of Arts, London
Gibson sculpted several versions of the Greek mythological figure Narcissus, the beautiful young man who fell in love with his own reflection. The artist said that he was inspired by the sight of a boy at a fountain in Rome, 'looking into the water... The action was perfect for a statue of Narcissus'. He claimed he 'immediately went to his studio and modelled a small sketch in clay of the action which he had admired'.
John GibsonHylas Surprised by the Naiades, 1827–36, exh 1837
Tate. View in Tate Collection
The Greek inscription on the pitcher held by the boy in this sculpture can be translated as 'beautiful Hylas'. In Greek literature, Hylas was the youthful companion of the hero Heracles (Hercules). As he was fetching water from a spring, the water nymphs, or Naiads, were captivated by his beauty and pulled him into the water, so that he could always live with them. Gibson shows Hylas being seized by two water nymphs; the style and composition strongly recall the work of Canova, whom Gibson greatly admired.
Joseph NollekensPortrait Bust of Sir George Savile, 1784
V&A Images / Victoria and Albert Museum
This portrait of the politician Sir George Savile (1726-1784) was based on a death mask (a cast taken directly from the face of the deceased). On seeing this bust, a contemporary remarked that 'pensiveness and spiritual suffering still left their mark on the tender, manly features'. A naturalistic treatment of the facial features and hair is here combined with classical drapery, providing a likeness of the sitter while also evoking his public, political role.
Joseph WiltonBust of Dr Antonio Cocchi, 1755
V&A Images / Victoria and Albert Museum
Dr Cocchi (1695-1758) was a widely respected physician and scholar in Florence, who befriended many British visitors to the city. The Greek inscription on the medallion on the base can be translated as 'Antonio Cocchi / Age 60 / 1755 / I go on learning as I grow old'. The strikingly bald and bare-chested sitter is depicted by the English sculptor Wilton in a highly animated and naturalistic style, although the austere representation also recalls antique Roman busts.
Joseph NollekensPortrait Bust of Sir George Savile, 1784
V&A Images / Victoria and Albert Museum
Drawing from Sculpture
In the Royal Academy schools of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries studying from busts and sculpture was an established teaching method.
You can borrow materials in the gallery to try sketching from the sculptures on display in the Duveen galleries. This activity is designed for everyone to try, regardless of previous experience.
Tips on drawing:
Try drawing the outline of the figure or detail just in line (that is, without using light and shade). Try thinking about the negative spaces instead of the body itself – what is the shape of the space between the legs or where the arm meets the torso? Can you draw that as a shape and then work around it?
Try drawing the lines without lifting your pencil from the paper – this makes each mark you make more confident and coherent.
If you don't feel confident drawing a whole figure, try focusing on a detail like a foot, a hand or an ear.
If you prefer to work in tone (that is, using light and shade), try squinting your eyes to cut out some of the detail, and block in the dark shapes with the side of your pencil lead.