John Bacon, a sculptor of probably more natural talent than the pre ceding, was born in London in 1740 and died in 1799. Being appren ticed to a china-manufacturer, Bacon found inspiration in the modelling of china; but his talents took the direction of sculpture, and while he was still in his apprenticeship he won the first of a series of nine prizes of fifty guineas each, awarded him by the Society of Arts for his emblematic statue of Ocean. In 1769 he wou the Academy's gold medal for a bas relief of zEneas escaping- from Troy, and the following year he was elected associate of the Royal Academy. The king now sat to him for his portrait, and he was commissioned to execute many important public works, such as the monument to Pitt in the Guildhall, the bronze statue of George III., and the moninnent to Dr. Johnson. Bacon's style was wholly native; he never went abroad. The ideal was not his field, but in monumental and portrait work he showed good sense and a careful study of nature. His deeply religious views, while they (lid not render him a fanatic, biassed him against the imitation of classic art, and what ever merit he possessed was entirely his own. He had much mechanical ability, which he devoted to improving the practice of his art. The improvements in the sculptor's pointing-machine are due to his inventive skill. Bacon left a fortune of sixty thousand pounds, which was divided between his two sons, John and Thomas Bacon, who were also sculptors of respectable talents. Monuments by the former are to be seen in Westminster Abbey.
John Flaxman, the most celebrated English sculptor of this period, was born at York in 1755 and died in London in 1826. He began his art studies in the potteries of Josiah Wedgwood, although his father's having been a modeller had doubtless much to do with the early bias the youth displayed for plastic art. Ffaxman was of an intellectual cast of mind and a nature exceedingly refined. Beyond all Ins contemporaries in sculpture he was possessed of a quick, keen imagination, while his tastes led him into the study of classic art, and of ancient poetry as well. One
is not surprised to learn that with such qualities he should have been attracted to the teachings of Swedenborg:.
For many years F1axmali remained in the profitable employ of Wedg wood, making classic designs for his ware, by which he mastered the art of linear drawing, and at the same time executing independent works, chiefly busts and monumental groups. In accompanied by his faithful wife, Flaxman went to Rome, where he studied for seven years. During that time he produced sonic of his best works. A group of four figures representing the fury of Atliamas—an episode from Ovid—was one of them, composed for the earl of Bristol. At this time, also, Flax man designed his famous illustrations of the Iliad and the Odyssey, which have done more to perpetuate his fame than all his other works. (See p. 241.) On his return to England he completed a number of monuments of distinguished statesmen and soldiers, and a noble called Michael and Satan (p. 46, 1). In 1818, Maxilla]] designed his magnificent model for the Shield of Achilles, comprising no less than one hundred figures. In 1810 he was chosen professor of sculpture in the Royal Academy. He also at intervals before his death prepared articles on art for Recs's Fneyclopetdia. In 1S26, as his epitaph tells us, "his angelic spirit returned to the Divine Oliver." Time name of Flaxman will live not because of any remarkable works in marble—for lie was weak in dealing with this stubborn material: the inspiration seemed to leave him when lie left modelling in clay—but because lie had a spark of the divine fire of classic art. His genius was entirely in sympathy with the exalted idea of ancient art, and he did much by his enthusiasm in swaying the sculptors of England. Ile was really a sculptor in thought, and a designer in his method of expressing thought, as is made evident by his immortal illustrations of Homer.