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Castlereagh in the round? A thread.
The most ubiquitous image of #ViscountCastlereagh is Lawrence’s portrait from c1810. But it was Sir Francis Chantrey who captured the most accurate images we have of Castlereagh’s physiognomy for his 1821 bust.
(left NPG; right YCBA)
The most ubiquitous image of #ViscountCastlereagh is Lawrence’s portrait from c1810. But it was Sir Francis Chantrey who captured the most accurate images we have of Castlereagh’s physiognomy for his 1821 bust.
(left NPG; right YCBA)
The basis for this claim is Chantrey's process. First, he used a camera lucida to sketch images of the subject’s head. This device used mirrors to present the artist with an image of the subject layered over an image of their page.
(Img: Scientific American Suppl., 1879)
(Img: Scientific American Suppl., 1879)
The resulting sketches were essentially tracings of the subject’s face and head. 2 sketches for the Castlereagh bust are in the @NPGLondon collections (below). They capture very human details (double chin, thinning hair, mouth slightly open at rest) and exact proportions.
Assistants would use these extremely accurate sketches to create a clay model. See the faint lines/marks on the sketches where they measured proportions to transfer the same measurements to the clay model. Chantrey would then refine the clay model in the presence of the subject.
Assistants would then use the clay model to make a plaster mould, and subsequently a plaster model. The original plaster model for the Castlereagh bust is in the collection of the @AshmoleanMuseum (img below). The clay model and plaster mould were destroyed in the process.
To transfer the same likeness from plaster to marble, assistants used a ‘pointing machine.’ This tool allowed them to transfer dozens/hundreds of exact measurements of height, width, and depth from the plaster model to a marble block.
(Img: Illustration from Wittkower, 1977)
(Img: Illustration from Wittkower, 1977)
The pointing machine process allowed the general proportions and form to be accurately reproduced. A specialist marble carver would then refine the overall marble bust. Finally, Chantrey himself would add the expression and fine detailing to the bust.
Img: @YaleBritishArt
Img: @YaleBritishArt
The result was an accurate physiognomy of the subject due to the mix of science/math and artistic talent. Mrs Arbuthnot concluded the bust of Castlereagh was “wonderfully like, & has just the beautiful expression of his countenance when he speaks.”
(Img: @YaleBritishArt)
(Img: @YaleBritishArt)
In addition to some stylization (hair, robes), it is interesting that the bust seems to minimize the double chin visible in the sketch. This could be due to the effect of removing clothing from around the neck. Or, perhaps, cool Castlereagh had a moment of middle-aged vanity.
For additional reading on Chantrey’s process, see MG Sullivan’s excellent book outlining the Ashmolean’s collection of original plaster models, and Holland’s 1857 book ‘Memorials of Sir Francis Chantrey, R.A.’
