Narcissus Attributed to john Gibson (1790 – 1866)

Attributed to

John Gibson RA (1790 – 1866)

Narcissus

Rome

Terracotta

45 cm high x 68 cm wide x 38 cm deep

Provenance:
Private Collection, Rome


This exciting discovery from a private collection in Rome, is highly likely to represent a rare, surviving work in terracotta, by the British, neoclassical sculptor, John Gibson RA (1790 – 1866). Gibson is best known for his exquisite depictions of figures from classical mythology, working in the neoclassical tradition of Antonio Canova (1757 – 1822) and Berthel Thorvaldsen (1770 – 1844), in Rome. He was perhaps the leading British sculptor of the nineteenth century and enjoyed the patronage of high-profile clients including: Queen Victoria of Great Britain, the Duke of Devonshire, Count Erwein of Schönborn, Alessandro Torlonia and Tsar Nicholas I of Russia. In 1833 Gibson was elected Associate of the Royal Academy in London and five years later was sworn in as a full member, exhibiting there between 1816 and 1864. He had an illustrious artistic career and received many international honours, including the Légion d'Honneur, which was awarded to him by the French government in 1864.

John Gibson arrived in Rome on 20th October 1817, aged 27, with four letters of recommendation from Sir George D’Aguilar, Henry Fuseli (1741 – 1825),