White marble bust of Maria, Duchess of Gloucester, head turned to left, looking upwards, hair dressed in coils and ringlets, wearing a lightly draped dress and shawl; on a turned socle.

The British sculptor Chistopher Hewetson (c1736 – 1798) carried out this work in Rome some time between 1776 and 1777. Hewetson moved from Dublin to Rome in 1765 and he remained there for the rest of his life. In Rome he enjoyed the patronage of a wealthy aristocratic clientele travelling to the city during their exclusive educational trip known as the ‘Grand Tour’.

Bust portraits such as this one involved the majority of Hewetson’s commissions in Rome and this one of Maria, Duchess of Gloucester was carried out during her visit to Rome, where she stayed between 1776 and 1777 with her husband, William Henry, Duke of Gloucester, younger brother of King George III, whom she married in 1765.

Portrayals in classical attire such as this marble bust were popular aristocratic commissions, and a genre in which Hewetson had become highly appreciated amongst aristocratic circles. These works were used to complement the interior decoration of large country states, mansions and palaces back in England, which was dominated by the paintings that were also bought and ordered during the Grand Tour, mostly consisting of fashionable portraits, views of famous classical ruins – also known as capriccios – and cityscapes or vedutas.

This bust portrait has remained in the collection of the Royal Family by descent since its commission and it is now in the Royal Collection.