Portrait bust of Robert Stewart, first Marquess of Londonderry, MP (1739-1821)
Gaetano Fabbrini (c.1769 - 1849)
Category
Art / Sculpture
Date
c. 1823
Materials
Plaster
Measurements
623 x 419 x 521 mm
Place of origin
Belfast
Order this imageCollection
Mount Stewart, County Down
NT 1220125.1
Summary
Sculpture, plaster; Portrait bust of Robert Stewart, First Marquess of Londonderry (1739-1821); Gaetano Fabbrini (c. 1769-1849); c. 1823. A posthumous plaster portrait bust of the first Marquess of Londonderry by the Florentine-born artist Gaetano Fabbrini who for many years was resident in Belfast working as a portrait painter. This is a second version at Mount Stewart of this portrait bust, the other example is signed and dated. The model appears to be the only sculpture that can be associated with the artist.
Full description
A portrait bust in plaster of Robert Stewart, First Marquess of Londonderry (1739-1821), depicting the sitter facing forwards and slightly downwards, dressed in a tightly-buttoned coat, over which is a loose drape, and with around his neck a cravatte, On an octagonal tapering base. There is an indentation in the sitter’s forehead, and slight damage to the lower edges of the socle. This portrait bust of Robert Stewart, first marquess of Londonderry, is a second version of a plaster bust, the other example of which, also at Mount Stewart (NT 1656089.3) is signed by Gaetano Fabbrini and dated 1823, thus two years after Lord Londonderry’s death. The compressed ears suggest that the busts are based on a death mask of the sitter, a cast of the face taken after death. Gaetano Fabbrini was a native of Florence but from 1814 until his death in 1849 he lived in Belfast, where he practised various livings, as a portrait painter, teacher of Italian and even dancing master. Fabbrini seems to have led a difficult and probably penurious life, blighted by his dismissal from the Belfast Academical Institution in 1820. For more information on Fabbrini’s career in Belfast, see NT 1656089.3. The two portrait busts at Mount Stewart appear to be the only surviving identified works of painting or sculpture by the artist, who was not until known to have worked as a sculptor. Jeremy Warren May 2022
Provenance
On loan to the National Trust from Lady Mairi Bury (1921-2009) since 1976; accepted by HM Government in lieu of Inheritance Tax and allocated to the National Trust in 2013.
Makers and roles
Gaetano Fabbrini (c.1769 - 1849), sculptor
References
Strickland 1913: W. G. Strickland, Dictionary of Irish Artists, 2 vols.1913, I, p. 329.