Westmacott, Richard
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- Westmacott, Richard
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(1775 - 1856), sculptor, studied under his father, Richard Westmacott; Dilettanti 1817; exh. RA 1797 - 1839; ARA 1805, RA 1811; prof. of sculpture RA 1827; Kt. 1837.
1793 - 6 Rome ( - Apr. 1793 - Apr. 1796) with visits to Florence (by 8 May - Jul. 1794), Lucca (Jul.), Florence (by 7 Oct. 1794), the Abruzzi, Naples and Calabria (Oct. - Dec. 1795); Florence (Apr. 1796), Bologna, Venice (11 May 1796) [England late 1796]
Westmacott was sent abroad by his father in 1792 'not then having attained [his] 16th year', attended by Casoni, a native of Carrara.1 In Rome the Abbate Carlo Bonomi (brother of Giuseppe the architect, whom Westmacott knew in London) introduced him to Canova, who became his teacher, 'a friend indeed to all who seek him'.1
Throughout his time in Rome Westmacott stayed in the Palazzo Zuccari on the Strada Gregoriana, where he was listed from 1793 to 1797 (although he had apparently left Rome in April 1796). In 1794 his address was shared by Casoni (who soon departed) and in 1796 - 7 by 'Dijne Iycer' (see under Lewis Disney-Ffytche).2 Westmacott recalled that in Rome he customarily modelled 'from the Life in alto relievo to the scale of nature each Morning & Evening, the day being occupied at the Vatican or other Galleries'.1 His name appears in Mrs Flaxman's diary at Rome in April and on Christmas Day 1793,3 and in April 1794 Westmacott was one of the signatories of the letter of thanks addressed by English artists in Rome to Prince Augustus (Rome List 1794).
He 'generally' passed the summer months each year in Florence. On 8 May 1794 he applied to copy in the Uffizi;4 in July he passed two days at Lucca with John Holland and his wife,5 and he was in Florence until October that year (see J.M. Gandy). In the autumn of 1795 he travelled in the Abruzzi and Calabria, part of the way with the architect J.M. Gandy, the painter G.A. Wallis and Disney (possibly a Disney-Ffytche). He then went on to see Lake Fucino, Naples, Portici, Herculaneum and Pompei.6
Only two of Westmacott's Italian works survive; a marble copy of the Apollino, signed Rome 1794 (now at Rokeby and presumably commissioned by J.B.S. Morritt), and the terracotta bas-relief of Joseph and his Brethren (Accademia di S.Luca, Rome) with which he took a Gold medal in 1795 at the Accademia di S.Luca. His friend the sculptor Vincenzo Pacetti had improved the piece beforehand and Tatham observed that it 'was very superior to any of his competitors'.7 On 24 September 1797, after his departure from Italy, he was elected a member of the Florentine Accademia del Disegno (helped by the advocacy of Pacetti).8
Westmacott was also involved in the purchase of antiquities. From Florence on 7 July 1794 he told Henry Holland that 'Signor Canova, a Friend of mine in Rome, has promised me his assistance in procuring some Antique Fragments which were in the possession of Pirinisi',5 and on 20 June 1795 he wrote to Holland of the 'the small fragments which I sent to England'.9 He bought two antique figures and four medals from Pacetti who also gave him an antique head and restored for him the statue of a youth.(10)
In April 1796 Tatham told Holland that Westmacott was to leave Rome 'in a few days' and was expected to be in England 'about the latter end of June'.(11) On his return journey he was robbed and injured on the Flaminian Way, but he managed to continue his route north through Florence and Bologna to Venice,5 where he arrived on 11 May.(12) He came to England via Vienna, Dresden and Berlin, arriving at the close of 1796.
1. RA archives (Westmacott, 25 Oct. 1822). See M. Busco, Sir Richard Westmacott, 8 - 10. 2. AVR sa, S.Andrea delle Fratte (1793 - 7, though Westmacott had left in 1796). 3. Mrs Flaxman jnl.MSS 2. 4. Borroni 1987, 127. 5. Tatham letters MSS (Westmacott, 7 Jul. 1794). 6. European Mag., 1822, 493. Gandy letters MSS (12 Nov., 1 Dec. 1795). 7. Pacetti giornale (12, 19 Feb., 8 Mar. 1795; 23 Aug. 1797). 8. Wynne 1990, 538. Pacetti giornale (5 Aug. 1796, 23 Aug. 1797). 9. Tatham letters MSS. 10. Pacetti giornale (10 Mar., 6, 12 Apr. 1795; 25, 27 Feb., 23 Apr. 1796). 11. Tatham letters MSS (Tatham, 4 Apr. 1796). 12. ASV is 777.