Bust of Euphemia Murray by Lawrence MacDonald c

Lawrence Macdonald sometimes Laurence Macdonald (15 February 1799 – 4 March 1878) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

sculptor.

Life

Macdonald was born on 15 February 1799 at Findo Gask in

Perthshire Perthshire (Scottish English, locally: ; ), officially the County of Perth, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore, Angus and Perth & Kinross, Strathmore ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

to Margaret Morison, a nurse, and Alexander Macdonald, a

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

ist. He was apprenticed as a

stonemason Stonemasonry or stonecraft is the creation of buildings, structures, and sculpture using stone as the primary material. Stonemasonry is the craft of shaping and arranging stones, often together with mortar and even the ancient lime mortar ...

with Thomas Gibson, who was then building the Murray Royal Asylum, outside

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

. Around this time he was also commissioned by Robert Graeme, the

laird Laird () is a Scottish word for minor lord (or landlord) and is a designation that applies to an owner of a large, long-established Scotland, Scottish estate. In the traditional Scottish order of precedence, a laird ranked below a Baronage of ...

of Garvock to carve a coat of arms on the front of Garvock House. Macdonald then travelled to Edinburgh with a letter of introduction from Graeme to the architect

James Gillespie Graham James Gillespie Graham (11 June 1776 – 21 March 1855) was a Scottish architect, prominent in the early 19th century. Much of his work was Scottish baronial in style. A prominent example is Ayton Castle. He also worked in the Gothic Revival ...

. On 26 February 1822 he entered the Trustees' Academy, Edinburgh. During this time he also worked as a decoratorative carver for Gillespie Graham. In late 1822 he travelled to France with the Oliphant family of Gask. He then went to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

where he set up a workshop and remained for the next three years. Whilst there he executed several busts, among others that of the John Murray, 4th Duke of Atholl. In 1823, along with Gibson, Severn, and other artists, he founded the British Academy of Arts in Rome, of which he continued as a trustee until his death. He returned to Edinburgh in 1826 and exhibited work at the Institution for the Encouragement of the Fine Arts. He also produced busts of Professor John Wilson and

George Combe George Combe (21 October 1788 – 14 August 1858) was a Scottish people, Scottish lawyer and a spokesman of the phrenology, phrenological movement for over 20 years. He founded the Edinburgh Phrenological Society in 1820 and wrote ''The Constitu ...

, the

phrenologist Phrenology is a pseudoscience that involves the measurement of bumps on the skull to predict mental traits. It is based on the concept that the brain is the organ of the mind, and that certain brain areas have localized, specific functions or ...

and founder of the

Edinburgh Phrenological Society The Edinburgh Phrenological Society was founded in 1820 by George Combe, an Edinburgh lawyer, with his physician brother Andrew Combe. The Edinburgh Society was the first and foremost phrenology grouping in Great Britain; more than forty ph ...

, for which MacDonald produced work. In 1829, he sent his bust of John Marshall, MP, to the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

, and he was a frequent contributor to the succeeding exhibitions. In the autumn of 1829, he exhibited in the Royal Institution, Edinburgh, his colossal group of 'Ajax bearing the dead body of Patroclus and combating 'an warrior' and other works; and he was second to his friend Charles Maclaren, editor of ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact (newspaper), compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until ...

'' in his bloodless duel with Dr. James Browne, editor of the ''

Caledonian Mercury The ''Caledonian Mercury'' was a newspaper in Edinburgh, Scotland, published three times a week between 1720 and 1867. In 2010 an online publication launched using the name. 17th century A short-lived predecessor, the '' Mercurius Caledonius'', ...

'', fought near Edinburgh in November 1829, which arose partly out of an article in the ''Mercury'' (6 November) on Macdonald's works and the ''Scotsman's'' criticisms upon them. In the same year he was elected a member of the Scottish Academy, where in 1832, he exhibited several busts, including those of

John Gibson Lockhart John Gibson Lockhart (12 June 1794 – 25 November 1854) was a Scottish writer and editor. He is best known as the author of the seminal, and much-admired, seven-volume biography of his father-in-law Sir Walter Scott: ''Memoirs of the Life of Sir ...

and the

Earl of Erroll Earl of Erroll () is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1453 for Sir William Hay. The subsidiary titles held by the Earl of Erroll are ''Lord Hay'' (created 1449) and ''Lord Slains'' (1452), both in the Peerage of Scotland. ...

; but he seldom contributed here, and resigned his membership in 1858. He appeared in the list of honorary members in 1867. At this time he is shown as living at 10 Cumberland Street in Edinburgh's Second New Town. In 1832 he returned to Rome, where he occupied a leading position as a sculptor, chiefly producing portrait busts, aided by his elder brother, John, and his son, Alexander. His bust of Philip Stanhope, 5th Earl Stanhope, is now at

Chevening Chevening House () is a large country house in the parish of Chevening in Kent, England. Built between 1617 and 1630 to a design reputedly by Inigo Jones and greatly extended after 1717, it is a Grade I listed building. The surrounding gardens, ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, and a copy is in the

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London that houses a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. When it opened in 1856, it was arguably the first national public gallery in the world th ...

. He also executed busts of

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...

(1831),

Fanny Kemble Frances Anne Kemble (later Butler; 27 November 180915 January 1893) was a British actress from a Kemble family, theatre family in the early and mid-nineteenth century. She was a well-known and popular writer and abolitionist whose published wor ...

, and Sir David Baird. and

. Among his ideal works are 'A Girl and a Carrier Pigeon,’ (1835), and 'Eurydice,’ (1849). His 'Ulysses recognised by his dog,’ shown in the Paris Exhibition of 1855, was much admired, and became the property of Lord Kilmorey. He died in Rome on 4 March 1878. Several sculptors trained under him, including William Brodie.

Principal works

Whilst Macdonald made statues of classical and mythological figures, all his portraiture was in the form of busts. *

(1827) *The Duke of Atholl,

Blair Atholl Blair Atholl (from the Scottish Gaelic: ''Blàr Athall'', originally ''Blàr Ath Fhodla'') is a village in Perthshire, Scotland, built about the confluence of the Rivers Tilt and Garry in one of the few areas of flat land in the midst of the G ...

, (1827) *Robert Phillips, (1829) * Earl of Errol (1832) *Viscountess Canning, Highcliffe Castle (1838) * Lord Alexander Russell,

Woburn Abbey Woburn Abbey (), occupying the east of the village of Woburn, Bedfordshire, England, is a country house, the family seat of the Duke of Bedford. Although it is still a family home to the current duke, it is open on specified days to visitors, ...

(1839) *Lady Ebury,

Apsley House Apsley House is the London townhouse of the Dukes of Wellington. It stands alone at Hyde Park Corner, on the south-east corner of Hyde Park, facing towards the large traffic roundabout in the centre of which stands the Wellington Arch. It ...

(1839) *Lord Charles Montagu,

Kimbolton Castle Kimbolton Castle is a country house in Kimbolton, Cambridgeshire, England. It was the final home of King Henry VIII's first wife, Catherine of Aragon. Originally a medieval castle but converted into a stately palace, it was the family seat of ...

(1840) * Sir Henry Taylor,

(1843) * Lord Compton,

Castle Ashby Castle Ashby is a village and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the parish (including Chadstone) was 111. Historically, the village was set u ...

(1843) *

Mary Somerville Mary Somerville ( ; , formerly Greig; 26 December 1780 – 29 November 1872) was a Scottish scientist, writer, and polymath. She studied mathematics and astronomy, and in 1835 she and Caroline Herschel were elected as the first female Honorar ...

, (1844) *The Duke of Cambridge,

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a List of British royal residences, royal residence at Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, about west of central London. It is strongly associated with the Kingdom of England, English and succee ...

(1846) *The Hon Mrs Sidney Herbert,

Wilton House Wilton House is an English country house at Wilton near Salisbury in Wiltshire, which has been the country seat of the Earls of Pembroke for over 400 years. It was built on the site of the medieval Wilton Abbey. Following the dissolution ...

(1848) *Statue of Hyacinthus,

(1852) *Duke of Northumberland (1853) * Earl Stanhope, Chevening House, Kent (1854) *Bacchante at the Bath,

Mount Stewart Mount Stewart is a 19th-century house and garden in County Down, Northern Ireland, owned by the National Trust. Situated on the east shore of Strangford Lough, a few miles outside the town of Newtownards and near Greyabbey, it was the Iris ...

(1856) *Venus at the Bath,

(1856) *Watts Russell, Ilam Church, Staffordshire (1863) *Earl Stanhope, Chevening, Kent (n.d.) *

Scottish National Portrait Gallery National Galleries Scotland: Portrait is an art museum on Queen Street, Edinburgh. Portrait holds the national collections of portraits, all of which are of, but not necessarily by, Scots. It also holds the Scottish National Photography Collec ...

(n.d.) *Euphemia Murray, Perth Museum (n.d.)

In Literature

Letitia Elizabeth Landon Letitia Elizabeth Landon (14 August 1802 – 15 October 1838) was an English poet and novelist, better known by her initials L.E.L. Landon's writings are emblematic of the transition from Romanticism to Victorian literature. Her first major b ...

published her poem ''Lines. Supposed to be the Prayer of the Supplicating Nymph in Mr. Lawrence Macdonald’s Exhibition of Sculptures'' in the ''Literary Gazette'' in 1831.

References

Sources

* * ;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Macdonald, Lawrence Scottish sculptors Scottish male sculptors British emigrants to Italy 1799 births 1878 deaths People from Perth and Kinross Alumni of the Edinburgh College of Art Burials in the Protestant Cemetery, Rome