"poor serving child" of queen's college had acquired great distinction in it. He was only twenty-one when he issued his editions of William Drummond's Polemo-Middiana and of James V. of Scotland's Cantilena Rustica, published at Oxford in 1671. The following year, appeared a still greater memorial of his industry and skill, his edition of the Saxon Chronicle, which has ever since been considered one of the most valuable of our historical monuments. Mention of some of his minor works of the same period may be omitted, thrown as they were into the shade by the publication, in 1695, of his English translation of Camden's Britannia. There was already extant an English version of this great work, executed by Philemon Holland; Gibson's was not only superior as a translation, but was enriched by most valuable additions, either communicated by antiquarian friends or procured by his own unwearied research. Had Gibson done nothing more than produce his editions of the Saxon Chronicle and of Camden's Britannia, his name would have stood in the foremost rank among those of men who have illustrated the history of their country. In 1698 he published the "Reliquiæ Spelmannianæ"—the posthumous works of Sir Henry Spelman—with a life of the author. This was dedicated to Dr. Tenison, archbishop of Canterbury, who appointed the editor one of his domestic chaplains and librarian at Lambeth. Preferment now followed preferment: he was made rector of Lambeth; archdeacon of Surrey; and on the death of Archbishop Tenison, in 1715, he was nominated to the see of Lincoln, vacant by the translation of Wake to Canterbury. In the politico-ecclesiastical controversies in which Wake was entangled, he received effective aid from the bishop of Lincoln, whom he himself had recommended to that see; and in 1720 Bishop Gibson was translated to London. In this position he displayed talents for business and episcopal activity so great, that during the long illness of Archbishop Wake, he was encouraged to discharge virtually the functions of metropolitan, and a sort of ecclesiastical premiership was intrusted to him by the government. This influence, however, was eventually lost, or much diminished, by his strenuous defence of the claims of the church, which alienated Walpole from him; and also, it has been said, by his fearless denunciation of masquerades, an amusement to which the king was devoted. The designation which had been conferred upon him of "heir-apparent to the archbishop of Canterbury," was thus gradually forfeited. Among the leading memorabilia of Bishop Gibson's episcopal rule, are his nurture of the church in the West Indies; his success in procuring an endowment for the Whitehall preachers, an institution still in full activity; and his issue of pastoral addresses to the laity as well as clergy of his diocese, many of them on social topics, such as the evils of intemperance—compositions of which in his later days he avowed himself prouder than of his great literary efforts. Although "high" in his church-politics. Bishop Gibson was doctrinally liberal. Of his works, produced through his connection with the church, by far the greatest is his "Codex Juris Ecclesiastici Anglicani," published in 1713, and in which he may be said to have codified the laws, temporal and spiritual, of the Church of England. In 1722, twenty-seven years after the appearance of the first edition, he published a second, much enlarged and improved, of his Camden's Britannia, which has remained the basis of all subsequent editions of that great work. Bishop Gibson died on the 6th of September, 1748, with a constitution worn out by incessant labour. In private he was much beloved; and his beneficence was in accordance with the position which he held and with the religion which he professed.—F. E.
GIBSON, John, R.A., the son of a landscape gardener at Conway, North Wales, where he was born in 1791. Whilst yet a child he amused himself by drawing on pieces of slate the sheep and horses he saw about the roads and fields. In his ninth year, his father removed to Liverpool. Young Gibson was apprenticed to a cabinetmaker; happily, however, an opportunity offering, he was transferred to a carver in wood. In this occupation his peculiar talent rapidly developed itself; and some of his carvings having attracted the attention of a Mr. Francis, of the marble works, Liverpool, that gentleman purchased the remainder of his time, supplied him with means and opportunities of artistic study, and encouraged him to turn his thoughts to original design, modelling, and the use of the chisel. Mr. Roscoe, the author of Leo the Tenth, also formed a high opinion of his ability, invited him frequently to his house, Allerton hall, laid open to him its rich literary and artistic treasures, and took pleasure in directing his studies in the art and mythology of the ancient Greeks. Mr. Roscoe had formed a plan for sending him to Italy to complete his studies, but the failure of the bank, in which he was a partner, frustrated his intentions. Other friends, however, came forward, and a sufficient sum was raised to enable the young sculptor to reside in Rome for two years. He accordingly proceeded to London, and called on Flaxman, who praised his sketches and models, and added his warm approval of his plan of study in Italy. Mr. Gibson arrived in Rome in October, 1817, carrying with him letters of introduction to Canova, who cheerfully admitted him as a pupil into his studio, where he worked to such purpose as soon to take rank among the very first of the great Italian's scholars. After Canova's death, although himself already a master, Gibson studied for a while in the atelier of Thorwaldsen, thus becoming successively the pupil of the two greatest sculptors respectively of the south and the north of Europe; but forming ultimately for himself a style independent of either. Gibson's earliest commission was obtained through the generous friendship of his first master. He had, in 1821, modelled a group, "Mars and Venus," which so delighted Canova that he carried it to the duke of Devonshire, and urged him to give his young countryman a commission to execute it in marble. This the duke readily did; and the marble group is now one of the chief attractions of the sculpture gallery at Chatsworth. From that time to the period of his death, Gibson devoted himself almost exclusively to the production of poetic subjects, chiefly taken from the mythology of Greece and Rome. Among these are the "Psyche and Zephyrs," one of his earliest works executed for Sir George Beaumont, but repeated for the hereditary grand-duke of Russia, and for Prince Torlonia, the Roman banker; "Hylas and the Nymphs," now in the National Gallery; "Aurora," "Proserpine," and Venuses, Cupids, Psyches, Endymions, and the like, beyond count; together with some admirable groups of figures of the class typified in such titles as the "Wounded Amazon," "a Greek Hunter," &c. Mr. Gibson also executed a few portrait statues, but only for special positions. Of these the chief are the colossal seated statue of the queen, supported by Justice and Mercy, which is placed in the prince's chamber of the new palace of Westminster; another statue of her majesty in Buckingham palace; a marble statue of Huskisson for the cemetery, Liverpool, and repeated in bronze for Lloyd's rooms, London; and Sir Robert Peel for Westminster Abbey. For some years before his death Gibson paid much attention to the subject of polychromy, or the mode of colouring sculpture practised by the Greeks. He adopted it, with some reserve, in his own works; the most remarkable instance being a Venus, which is wholly coloured or tinted, and which is admitted to be treated with exquisite taste, even by those who dislike the practice. From his first arrival in 1817, Mr. Gibson continued to reside at Rome, where he was long the honoured representative of English art, the ready and kindly adviser of the English art-student. His visits to England were few, and generally brief. Mr. Gibson was elected A.R.A. in 1833, and R.A. in 1836; but he did not contribute to the Academy exhibitions for several years prior to his death. He was, admittedly, the chief of English sculptors of his day. Everything he did shows refined taste, a thorough knowledge of the specific style, and entire mastery of the technics, of his art. He died at Rome on the 27th of January, 1866.—J. T—e.
GIBSON, Richard, a celebrated dwarf and painter, was born in 1615. He studied under Francis Cleyn and Sir Peter Lely, and became the imitator of the latter. He, however, excelled chiefly in water colours. There is a good drawing by him of the queen of Charles I. at Hampton Court; and a miniature of his of the "Parable of the Lost Sheep," which belonged to, and was much admired by Charles I., proved fatal to Vanderdoort, the Dutch keeper of the king's pictures. As it was a favourite work with Charles I., Vanderdoort had put it away with such care that on one occasion when the king wished to see it, the poor keeper could not find it, and he hanged himself in despair. It was found afterwards by his executors, and restored to the king. Gibson was a great favourite with the court, as much probably on account of his size as for his art. He taught the two queens, Mary and Anne, daughters of James II. Cromwell is said to have sat to him; and Philip earl of Pembroke was also his patron. He was a favourite with painters. There are portraits of him by Vandyck, by Dobson, and by Lely.
