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portrait work; and afterwards, from the 'Ajninta' of Tasso, modelled 'Love dis-
fuised as a Shepherd,' of which he pro- uced no less than seven repetitions. Next. meeting with a beautiful boy, he conceived and modelled after him, i Cupid tormenting the Soul/ which he deemed one of his best works. Thus pursuing his art, in which all his thoughts were centred, and sending his works noine to the Academy Exhi- bitions, that they might be known to his countrymen, though they were the constant subject of hostile criticism by the press, he was in 1833 elected an associate of the Academy, and that year exhibited 'A Sleeping Shepherd Boy ' and a ' Paris.' In 1838 he contributed a ' Narcissus/ and in 1840 was elected a full member of the Aca- demy, exhibiting that year two bassi-rilievi. His powers were now at their height, and enjoying the fame of which he was ambi- tious, his days passed happily in the pur- suit of art, by which he was surrounded.
After a long sojourn at Rome, with little relaxation, his whole thoughts bent on Ms own art— for he had little sympathy with the painters — he passed several successive sum- mers at Innsbruck, and on his first visit there said that ' he felt as if he were new modelled/ On the deatli of Mr. Huskisson in 1831, he was asked to compete for the erection of a statue to him at Liverpool, but declining to do so, the commission was unreservedly given to him ; and a second statue, not a replica, was commissioned for the custom-house tnere, by Mrs. Huskis- son, who induced him, after 24 years' residence abroad, to return to England in the summer of 1844 to superintend the erection of his work, and in 1847 he came again for the same purpose, and from that time was almost a yearly visitor. On his first visit the Queen sat to him for the statue of her Majesty, now in Buckingham Palace. In his endeavours to give the highest finish to this work, he first employed a little colour, using slight tints of blue and yellow. He met the clamorous critics with, * Whatever the Greeks did was right/ and submitted his tinted statue at the Academy Exhibition to the opinion of the public. But he only exhibited again on two occasions— in 1851 sending his marble statue of George Stephenson, and in 1854 his bust of the Prince of Wales.
The effects of the tumultuous period of 1848-49 did not fail to reach him. The successful English sculptors in Rome, and their exemption from enrolment, were the subject of dangerous remarks. When the French troops neared Rome he fled to Florence, returning in 1850, when the Pope again took possession of his palace. He was then engaged to model a group of the Queen for the new palace at Westminster, into which he introduced the typical figures of 174
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Wisdom and Justice. About the same time he commenced his * Venus/ which he deemed his most ideal and highly-finished work, and carrying out his idea of colour, he gave the flesh the tint of warm ivory, made the eyes a pale blue and the hair blonde, enclosed in a golden net. This was evidently his cherished work. On the tortoise at the feet he inscribed, * Gibson made me at Rome; ' and he tells how long and often he sat in contemplation of his ' Venus/ and asks how he was ever to part with her. This figure was itself a replica, and was followed by three more. He was in apparent health, though his power was declining, and was in Rome, where he had dwelt for 48 years, when he was suddenly attacked by paralysis, and died January 27, 1866. His affections were with the arts and artists of his own country, and by his will he left to the Royal Academy the models both of his executed and his unfinished works, includ- ing several in marble, with the earnings of his lif e (32,000/. ) ? for he had outlived his two brothers, his only relations. He passed a quiet and equable life in the pur- suit of an art on which his happiness was fixed, unwearied in his earnestness and activity. He was entirely without know- ledge of the classic languages, and had little intellectual cultivation, yet he made the works of the great Greek sculptors his life-long models, and to approach them was the object of his most earnest study. While Flaxman imbibed the spirit of the Greeks, he is accused of having imitated them. He did not seek invention or aim at novelty. He said, 'It is the desire of novelty that destroys pure taste. What is novel diverts us ; trutn and beauty instruct us/ He was a member of the principal European art academies, and also of the French Legion of Honour and the Prussian Order of Merit. The son of a Welsh gar- dener, he rose to the highest honours in art. His life, in which an autobiography is embodied, was edited by Lady Eastlake, and published 1870.
GIBSON, Benjamin, sculptor. He was born at Liverpool, and was brother to the foregoing, ana chiefly employed as his assistant. He was also his inseparable companion, and having studied the classics, was the authority to whom he constantly referred. He wrote some papers on the antiquities of Italy, and sent to the Society of Antiquaries communications on the 'Ionic Monuments of Zanthus' and on i Fresco Painting. ' He died at the Baths of Lucca, August 13, 1851, aged 40.
GIBSON, Patrick, R.S. A., landscape painter. Was born in Edinburgh in De- cember 1782. His parents were respect- able, and he received an excellent classical education. He showed an early taste both for literature and art, and wishing to follow
