Portrait of Louis François Roubiliac
Date
1827
Sitter
Louis François Roubiliac (1695 - 1762, French) , Sculptor
Creator
William Holl (1771 - 1838, British) , Engraver
After
Adrien Carpentiers (1713 - 1778, British) , Painter
Object type
Archive reference number
Material
Technique
Dimensions
height (print): 220mm
width (print): 135mm
width (print): 135mm
Subject
Description
Three-quarter length portrait of Louis François Roubiliac, shown in the act of sculpting a full-length portrait model of the playwright William Shakespeare. Roubiliac is dressed informally, his coat opened at the chest and cuffs, showing a white shirt, open at the neck. He wears a loose velvet cap. In Roubiliac’s right hand, extended to model a detail of Shakespeare’s eye, is a modelling stylus; his left hand rests against a tripod stand, upon which rests the maquette, with other tools visible including callipers.
Plate from a grangerized copy of A history of the Royal Society, with memoirs of the Presidents…by Charles Richard Weld (London, John W. Parker, 1848). In this edition, the original two volumes were extended to eight volumes with the addition of extra-illustrations and documents, by Alexander Meyrick Broadley.
The print appears at p.446 in volume 4 of the adapted set of Weld’s History. Weld’s text mentions the death mask of Sir Isaac Newton, formerly owned by Roubiliac.
Inscribed below: ‘Adrian Carpantiers Pinxt. W. Holl Sculpt. Lewis Francis Roubiliac designing the Statue of Shakespeare. London, Published by A. Wivell No.40 Castle Street East, 1827.’
Louis François Roubiliac (1702-1762) French-born sculptor, active in Britain, produced the sculpture of Shakespeare as a commission from the actor and manager David Garrick (1717-1779).
Plate from a grangerized copy of A history of the Royal Society, with memoirs of the Presidents…by Charles Richard Weld (London, John W. Parker, 1848). In this edition, the original two volumes were extended to eight volumes with the addition of extra-illustrations and documents, by Alexander Meyrick Broadley.
The print appears at p.446 in volume 4 of the adapted set of Weld’s History. Weld’s text mentions the death mask of Sir Isaac Newton, formerly owned by Roubiliac.
Inscribed below: ‘Adrian Carpantiers Pinxt. W. Holl Sculpt. Lewis Francis Roubiliac designing the Statue of Shakespeare. London, Published by A. Wivell No.40 Castle Street East, 1827.’
Louis François Roubiliac (1702-1762) French-born sculptor, active in Britain, produced the sculpture of Shakespeare as a commission from the actor and manager David Garrick (1717-1779).
Object history
Print from Charles Richard Weld's A history of the Royal Society, vol. 4... (London, John W. Parker, 1848) grangerized by the writer and collector Alexander Meyrick Broadley (1847–1916) into 8 volumes, adding illustrative material and manuscript items to Weld's text. The books were initially owned by Ludwig Mond FRS (1839–1909), and according to an inscription by his son Robert Ludwig Mond FRS (1867–1938) they were intended for presentation to the Society. This eventually happened in late 1959, the donor being the politician Harry Nathan (1889–1963), Lord Nathan of Churt.
Related fellows
Charles Richard Weld (1813 - 1869, British) , Author
Associated place