Mary, Queen of Scots (1542–1587)
Sir Richard Westmacott II, RA (London 1775 - London 1856)
Category
Art / Sculpture
Date
1822
Materials
Limestone
Measurements
1960 x 785 x 725 mm
Order this imageCollection
Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire
NT 1129361.1
Summary
Stone sculpture, Mary, Queen of Scots (1542–1587) by Sir Richard Westmacott RA (London 1775 - London 1856), 1822. On plinth of Mary, Queen of Scots, modelled on a portrait at Chatsworth (said to be by Zuccaro) and her tomb in Westminster Abbey. The shield on the plinth is copied from a carving at Holyrood. The drapery is intricately carved with very fine ‘drillwork’ having been used to create the lace effect to the hems and bodice of the garments. The sculpture and pedestal have been in their current position since the turn of the nineteenth/twentieth century. It was formerly in the great hall/entrance hall.
Provenance
Commissioned from Westmacott the Elder by the 6th Duke; cost £350. Originally intended to be placed on Queen Mary's Bower at Chatsworth it was brought to Hardwick by the 6th Duke of Devonshire and placed at the east end of the Entrance Hall until circa 1910 when it was removed to its present position. The date at which it was brought to Hardwick is not known but its arrival here clearly ante-dates a letter of the 6th Duke to his sister Harriet dated 19 October 1844;
Makers and roles
Sir Richard Westmacott II, RA (London 1775 - London 1856), sculptor
References
Busco 1994 Marie Busco Sir Richard Westmacott Sculptor. Cambridge Studies in the History of Art, Cambridge University Press, 1994, fig. 109, p. 117-8