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Model for a first sketch of a statue of John Philip Kemble
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SM SDR11. ©Sir John Soane's Museum, London. Photo: Art UK
John Flaxman RA (1755 - 1826), sculptor
Model for a first sketch of a statue of John Philip Kemble
Height: 33cm
Diameter (base): 11cm
Diameter (base): 11cm
Museum number: SDR11
On display: South Drawing Room
All spaces are in No. 13 Lincoln's Inn Fields unless identified as in No. 12, Soane's first house.
For tours https://www.soane.org/your-visit
Curatorial note
This is the model for the statue of the great tragedian, John Philip Kemble, in Westminster Abbey, representing him as Cato, with Plato’s treatise on the Immortality of the Soul in his hand. The statue was carried out by John E Hinchcliffe after Flaxman’s death and exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1827. It was in the north transept of Westminster Abbey until 1865 when with the concurrence of the subject's niece, Miss Fanny Kemble, it was removed.
Literature
Sir J. Soane, Description, 1835, p.75
Helen Dorey ‘Soane and Flaxman’ in Flaxman: Master of the Purest Line, Exhibition Catalogue, Sir John Soane’s Museum 2003
Helen Dorey ‘Soane and Flaxman’ in Flaxman: Master of the Purest Line, Exhibition Catalogue, Sir John Soane’s Museum 2003
Associated items
Soane collections online is being continually updated. If you wish to find out more or if you have any further information about this object please contact us: worksofart@soane.org.uk