On his return from Italy, where he had spent upwards of seven years, not unprofitably as regarded his pecuniary affairs, and certainly most profitably as regarded both his studies and his reputation, he took a house in Buckingham-street, Fitzroy-square, and in a very alind time distinguished himself by his noble monument to Lord Mansfield. Ho was unanimously elected an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1797. In that year he exhibited at the Academy his monument of Sir W. Jones, now in the chapel of University College, Oxford, and three bas-relief sketches of subjects from tho New Testament, namely, ' Christ raising from the Dead the Daughter of Jairus,' and two illustrative of the texts, 'Comfort and Help the Weak-Hearted;' ' Feed the Hungry.' Those may be considered as the commencement of a cycle of scriptural compositions intended to show that the simple truths of tho Gospel were fully capable of inspiring the sculptor and supplying him with appropriate subjecta. Of this class are the reliefs of the monument of Sir F. Bariog's family in Micheldcan Church, Meta, which expressly figure the ideas of the following sentences: Thy will be done '—' Thy kingdom coma' =Deliver us from eviL' To those may be added his beautiful illustration of the text, 'Blessed are they that mourn,' in a monument to Mary Lnahington, of Lewisham, Kent, representiug a mother sorrowing for her daughter, and comforted by au angeL His groups of ' Come, ye Blessed'—' Lead us not into temptation '—' Charity,' and the monuments of Countess Spencer and Mrs. Tighe, the poetess, not to enumerate others, are also replete with religious sentiment and fervour. That he should have been preeminently happy In such subjects needs not greatly excite our surprise, because he was at home in them; in them his head and hand spontaneously obeyed the dictates of a heart tenderly alive to every sentiment of devotion.
Hence it was that he so successfully broke through the conventional trammels of his profession, and opened an almost entirely fresh track for himself. On the contrary, when fettered down to commonplace ideas and eub)ects, he did not rise at all higher than many others have done. Even his monument of Nelson, as well as others by him in St. Paul's, are cold both in conception and execution. Whether he would have succeeded vary much better in the colossal figure of Britaauia, which he proposed should be erected upon Greenwich 11111, perhaps admits of doubt; although that he could have executed such a work can hardly be questioned. A figure however of such stupendous dimensions, for its height was to have been not less than 200 feet, was treated as an absurdly extravagant, if not impracticable and utterly visionary scheme.
In 1810 ho was appointed to the then new professorship of sculpture at the Royal Academy, to which eircumstanes the world is indebted for his aeries of Lectures on the art, which, although of no extraordinary merit as literary compositions, are full of good sense and good feeling, and may be studied with profit, not by those alone of his own pro fession, but by artists and men of taste generally.
Till the year 1820 ho had enjoyed a life of serenity and tranquil competence, with coustant occupation In the art he loved, and increasing fame attending it; but he ha I now felt the bitterness of losing his wife. He henceforth felt a blank in his existence which neither the solace of friendship nor the honours of public applause could fill up. Nevertheless he continued to apply himself vigorously to his art, and some of his latest productions arc among his best The Shield of Achilles; first modelled in 1818, afterwards cast iu silver gilt for George IV., is certainly one of the most splendid achieve
ments of the art in modern times. To this period belong also his Psyche,' and group of the Archangel Michael and Satan' (at Petworth), both of them stamped with his genius. The interruptions be experienced from illness or infirmity were but few and brief; and until three days before his death he was able to employ himself in his usual pursuits and studies without particular inconvenience. He died on the 7th of December 1826, and on the 15th be was followed to the grave (in the churchyard of St. Giles-in-the-Fields) by the president and council of the Royal Academy.
It is difficult to do justice to the character of Flaxman as a man or as an artist without the semblance of overstrained panegyric. In some of the mechanical parts of his art he (lid not greatly excel, neither do his works display that high finishing and delicacy of execution which captivate the eye and often mislead the judgment. "If Flaxman," says Cicognara, "had possessed skill in modelling and execution equal to his talent in invention and composition, he would certainly have had a great share in the prosperous revolution which has taken place in the art. Nevertheless it is greatly indebted to him, since, as far as we are acquainted with his productions, we may affirm that they have mainly contributed to awaken sculpture from a certain monotonous lethargy, and to restore the golden style—the severity of the antique—which be knew how to apply to his own designs." This praise, if not very warm, is sufficiently discriminating and just upon the whole. Flaxman helped to restore the art from the inanity and soulless, though occasionally graceful, mannerism into which it had fallen, and in which it appeared inclined to remain. lie rendered it more poetic, taught it to address itself to the heart, to touch the noblest feelings of our nature, and, while it impressed, to elevate them.
Flaxman, though he lived frugally, was barely able to secure a decent competence during the larger part of his life, and it was probably only by means of the highly-paid commissions he received from government during his later years, that he was enabled to save something beyond what sufficed to provide for his moderate daily wants. At his death his property was sworn at under 4000/., while his far inferior contemporary Nollekena, the portrait sculptor, died worth nearly 150,000/. He left his property chiefly and all the contents of his studio to his wife's younger sister, Miss Maria Denman, whom he bad long adopted as a daughter. The contents of his studio included nearly all his working models, casts of all his chief works, &c.; Miss Denman preserved the collection entire with affection ate reverence for five-and-twenty years after the death of the great sculptor ; regarding herself as she declared but as a trustee for the public until a fitting depository for these most valuable works should be found. At length a not unsuitable museum was found—though unfortunately not a national one : the Council of University College having consented to have the cupola of the college adapted to their reception. it was accordingly altered by Mr. Donaldson and con verted into a very good sculpture gallery, and there, in what is now called Flaxman Hall, the working models and casts of about one hundred and forty of the chief works of our greatest English sculptor are arranged.