10 Great Sculptures in the Royal Collection

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The Royal Collection holds a remarkable array of sculptures spanning from the 15th century to the present day. While early rulers like Charles I amassed ancient sculptures, very few survived the sale of the King's collection in 1650, following his execution. The enduring legacy of this era, however, can be seen in the 23 bronze casts of ancient statues that Hubert Le Sueur created for Charles I in 1631, which are still preserved at Windsor Castle and Hampton Court.

The collection was later significantly enhanced by George IV, who added outstanding French bronze statuettes and marble busts. He also started the tradition of filling the royal palaces with marble likenesses of his friends and family. The passion for sculpture continued with Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, who were particularly fond of using sculpture to preserve the memory of their growing children. 

More recently, the collection has grown to include significant modern works, such as Sun and Moon by renowned 20th-century artist Barbara Hepworth. Discover some of the highlights in our Collection below. 

A bronze satyr by Benvenuto Cellini

This exceptional bronze figure is the work of Benvenuto Cellini, one of the most celebrated sculptors of the Italian Renaissance. As a sculpture, it is not easily categorised.  Probably inspired by Michelangelo’s David, It is thought to represent a satyr – a creature from Greek mythology – usually depicted with the upper part of a human, the legs of a goat and horns on the head. 

In January 1542, Francis I of France commissioned Cellini to design a new frontispiece for the Porte Dorée (Golden Gate) at the Château of Fontainebleau. Though the project was never realised, it can be envisaged thanks to this preparatory model and its companion (now at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles).

The satyr's origins in the 1540s are remarkably well-documented in the artist's own vivid autobiography. However, its history from the mid-16th century to the late 20th century is a complete mystery. The satyr and its companion make a fleeting appearance in an inventory of one of George IV's storage rooms, but beyond that, their whereabouts remain unknown. This long absence from the historical record may be due to a simple practical issue: while the figure was recognised as a work of quality, its inability to stand on its own made it difficult to display.

A bronze bust of Catherine de’ Medici, Queen of France, by Germain Pilon

Catherine de’ Medici was the daughter of Lorenzo de Medici, Duke of Urbino. In 1533 at the age of 14, she was married to the second son of Francis I of France, who ascended the throne as Henry II in succession to his father in 1547. After her husband’s death in a jousting accident, she ruled France as Queen Regent for three years. Three of her sons would succeed their father on the throne during one of the bloodiest periods of French history. 

This bust is an adaptation of the head of a recumbent marble effigy of the Queen that was completed, along with an effigy of Henry II, by the French sculptor Germain Pilon in 1591. The effigies were intended for positions either side of an altar in a new funerary chapel at the Cathedral of Saint Denis in Paris. 

The bust represents the Queen’s passion for jewellery; her hair, bodice and sleeves are incrusted with pearls and diamond jewels. While none of the pieces worn here can be identified, the magnificent pearls she gave her daughter-in-law, Mary, Queen of Scots, were later passed down to Elizabeth I. Today, some of those very same pearls are believed to be among the jewels set in the Imperial State Crown.

The bust is on display in the Mary, Queen of Scots’ Outer Chamber at the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

A bronze statue of Mercury by Hubert Le Sueur for Henrietta Maria

This bronze statue of Mercury shows the Roman god wearing his characteristic winged helmet and carrying his caduceus – a staff entwined with two snakes. The statue was created by the French sculptor Hubert Le Sueur, who accompanied Henrietta Maria to England upon her marriage to Charles I in 1625.

The future Queen commissioned the statue from Hubert Le Sueur for her Privy Garden at Somerset House in 1638-39. It is a variant of the statue completed by the Italian Renaissance sculptor Giambologna in 1580 for a fountain basin in the garden of the Villa Medici in Rome. In 1598 the Duke of Tuscany sent a cast of it to Henrietta’s father, Henry IV of France, which she will have known from the gardens at Saint-Germain-en-Laye. Unlike Giambologna, Le Sueur shows Mercury having alighted on the back of a tortoise, whose mouth is turned upwards to act as a water-spout.

Despite its importance, the statue was once sold by mistake. In the early 19th century, the statue and its pair (the whereabouts of which is now unknown) were found ‘lying in the corner of [a] Store Room’. Mistaken for lead, they were sold in a sale of ‘old stores’ on 24 May 1825, at which point their true value and importance was discovered. The statues were reacquired two days later.

A terracotta bust of Charles II attributed to Edward Pearce

This bust is a striking portrait of Charles II. He is depicted in elaborate contemporary dress: a stylish wig, a rich lace cravat and a coat patterned with tulips. His serious expression, combined with his head turned and slightly raised, projects a powerful sense of dignity and authority.

The origins of this impressive, though curious bust of Charles II are unclear. It was likely made during Charles II’s lifetime by Edward Pearce, an architect and sculptor who played a significant role in London's rebuilding after the Great Fire in 1666. Pearce's work was diverse, ranging from architectural design to intricate carvings in both wood and stone for private and royal buildings alike.

Until 1938, the bust was covered by a 'bronze treatment', which King George VI and Queen Elizabeth asked the Surveyor of The King's Works of Art, Lord Gerald Wellesley, to have removed.

The Charles II bust is on display in the King’s Dining Room at Windsor Castle.

A marble fountain nymph by Antonio Canova for George IV

George IV commissioned numerous portrait busts of his friends, family and heroes for the corridors of the palaces, but he showed little interest in marble statues. The great exceptions were the works of Antonio Canova, considered the greatest sculptor of his time. 

In August 1815, Canova had completed a clay model for a new sculpture of a fountain nymph. This work was a commission for George Campbell, Baron Cawdor, one of Canova's earliest British patrons and a close friend. Around the same time, Canova was on a diplomatic trip to London where he learned of George IV’s (then Prince Regent) interest in ‘gracious subjects, especially of women’. Frustrated that he only had the single fountain nymph on hand, he wrote to Cawdor asking if he might yield the commission to the Prince. In a remarkable gesture of goodwill, Cawdor agreed, and the marble sculpture was delivered to George IV at Carlton House in 1819.

The Prince later commissioned the colossal group of Mars and Venus from Canova. The sculptures are on display in the Marble Hall at Buckingham Palace. 

A bronze model of Prince Albert’s favourite greyhound Eos by John Francis

As the young Prince Albert prepared to travel to England for his wedding to Queen Victoria in 1840, he made sure to send his beloved companion Eos ahead. Victoria was thrilled to see ‘dear Eos’, who arrived the evening before Albert did. 

When Eos died in 1844, Victoria wrote of her husband’s distress noting that ‘she had been his constant and faithful companion for 10 ½ years…’ In October, Victoria and Albert visited the kennels at Windsor to watch the sculptor John Francis at work on ‘…a large model of our ever regretted dear “Eos” for a statue to be put on her grave’. 

In November, the couple visited the kennels again, by which time the Prince himself was involved in the modelling process: ‘Albert directs everything and also works himself at it', the Queen writes.

A marble statue of Queen Victoria by John Gibson

Queen Victoria commissioned this full-length marble statue of herself at age 25 from the Welsh sculptor John Gibson after seven years on the throne. The young queen ascended the throne after 133 years of male rule, by which time, the royal portrait had become formulaic: the monarch, dressed in extraordinary velvet robes with the Imperial State Crown by their side, was the definitive public image of a new ruler. 

But all artists faced a challenge at the beginning of Queen Victoria’s reign. How should they present an 18-year-old woman, not five feet tall, in a manner that would suggest she held the same position as her male predecessors? 

Gibson’s marble portrait is striking. It was commissioned for domestic display, as a companion piece to Emil Wolff’s statue of Prince Albert as a Greek Warrior. The young queen is dressed in a flowing toga, her head turned slightly to the right, and hair intricately coiled. In her right hand, she holds a laurel wreath, which she is about to bestow, and a scroll in her left hand, representing the law. The toga is adorned with sprays of roses, thistles and shamrocks, symbolising England, Scotland and Ireland.

John Gibson’s statue of Queen Victoria is on display in the Guard Chamber at Buckingham Palace. 

A water coloured bust of Princess Gouramma of Coorg by Carlo Marochetti and William H. Millais

The Italian-born French sculptor Carlo Marochetti experimented with polychrome sculpture, which was an unusual practice for the 19th century. This portrait bust of Princess Gouramma, the daughter of Chikka Virarajendra, the last ruler of the Kodagu (Coorg) kingdom of southern India, was commissioned by Queen Victoria and presented to Prince Albert on his birthday in 1856. The colour was applied to the marble by the watercolourist William H. Millais, the elder brother of the more successful pre-Raphaelite painter John Everett Millais. 

The Times reported on a visit to Marochetti’s studio in April 1856: ‘Not content to touch a few ornaments with colour, the artist has boldly painted the face, the hair, the dress to the life, using watercolour, of course, so that through this transparent medium the rich effect of the marble may not be lost’. 

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert’s children as allegories of the seasons by Mary Thornycroft

Mary Thornycroft was a successful British sculptor, working during the reign of Queen Victoria. One of her first royal commissions were the four statues of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert’s children in the guise of the seasons, which she produced between 1845 and 1847. Thornycroft’s statues are life-size representations of Princess Alice as Spring, Princess Victoria as Summer, Prince Alfred as Autumn and Prince Albert Edward as Winter.

The commissions to Thornycroft came from Albert, whose preference for allegory and inner meaning contrasted Victoria’s more straightforward concern for likeness. The group of the Seasons was completed in 1848 and exhibited at the 1851 Great Exhibition in London. Thereafter, the royal couple became Thornycroft’s dedicated patrons. Victoria, particularly fond of the statues, had them reproduced not only in bronze but also in smaller, porcelain versions.

A marble bust of Lady Alice Montagu by Emil Fuchs

Lady Alice Eleanor Louise Montagu was one of the twin daughters of the 8^th Duke of Manchester and his wife, Consuelo Yznaga, Duchess of Manchester. The Duchess was a friend of the future King Edward VII (when Prince of Wales). She met the Austrian-American sculptor Emil Fuchs soon after he arrived in London in 1897. 

As he recounted in his 1925 memoir, he was so struck by the beauty of Lady Alice, whom he described as ‘so beautiful, so delicate, frail and sympathetic’, that he ‘felt an irresistible desire to fix her delicate features in marble’.