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SIR RICHARD WESTMACOTT (1775-1856)

Dr. Samuel Johnson

c. 1791-2

RCIN 33445

Marble bust of Dr Johnson, head, shoulders and body facing front, head turned slightly to the left, draped with cloak over left shoulder.

In this bust the great eighteenth-century literary critic, Shakespeare scholar and lexicographer is portrayed in Roman garb befitting the heroic status he had achieved in his lifetime.

Johnson was held in great esteem by George III. After he moved to London in 1737 Johnson (1709-84) struggled as a journalist until the completion of his great Dictionary in 1755. His fortunes subsequently improved and in 1762 he was granted a pension by George III. Johnson was often admitted to the library rooms at Buckingham House; on one celebrated occasion he conversed with the King about the literary scene and the merits of contemporary journalists, writers and thinkers. In the year after Johnson’s death, the King received (from Johnson’s friend, Bennet Langton) an early manuscript list of possible literary projects - Johnson’s Designs (in the Royal Library).

This portrait is a version of Westmacott’s bust - on a monument in Lichfield Cathedral - by which Johnson was commemorated in the city of his birth. On an adjacent monument, also by Westmacott, of Johnson’s lifelong friend, David Garrick, are inscribed Johnson’s words: ‘His death eclipsed the gaiety of nations, and impoverished the public stock of harmless pleasure.’ The remains of both Johnson and Garrick lie side by side in Westminster Abbey.

In his long and prolific career Westmacott made very few portrait busts, but his first two exhibits at the Royal Academy in 1797 were in this form, and this bust closely resembles one of them, a posthumous portrait of the architect Sir William Chambers (marble; London, Sir John Soane’s Museum). All three share a crudeness that might be expected in such early works.

Catalogue entry adapted from George III & Queen Charlotte: Patronage, Collecting and Court Taste, London, 2004

    The income from your ticket contributes directly to The Royal Collection Trust, a registered charity. The aims of The Royal Collection Trust are the care and conservation of the Royal Collection, and the promotion of access and enjoyment through exhibitions, publications, loans and educational activities.