John Milton (1608-1674), in old age
John Michael Rysbrack (Antwerp 1684 – London 1770)
Category
Art / Sculpture
Date
1738 - 1740
Materials
Marble
Measurements
880 x 910 x 530 mm
Order this imageCollection
Stourhead, Wiltshire
NT 732893.1
Summary
White marble, John Milton (1608-1674), in old age by John Michael Rysbrack (Antwerp 1694 – London 1770), 1738/40. Marble portrait bust of old Milton, head placed centrally, wearing toga, narrow base, no socle. A version of Rysbrack's head on the Milton monument commissioned by the archirect William Benson and in Westminster Abbey (1738). It was based on a 17th-century portrait by Fairthorne. Poem on wood below reads 'Cyriac, this three year day, these Eyes, tho clear To outward view of blemish or of spot, Bereft of Sight, their seeing have forgot, Nor to their idle Orbs does day appear, Or Sun, or Moon, or Stars throughout the year, Or Man, or Woman. Yet I argue not Against Heavens Hand, or Will, nor bate one jet Of Heart or Hope, but still bear up, and steer Right onwards. What supportsme, doth thou ask? The Conscience, friend, thave lost them overplayd In Liberys defence, my noble task, Whereof all Europe rings from side to side. This thought might lead me through this worlds vain mask, Content, though blind, had I no other guide.' Sonnet XIX - Cyriac Skinner.
Provenance
William Benson (1682 - 1754), circa 1738; passed to his brother-in-law, Henry Hoare (1705-1785) and thence by descent at Stourhead until given to the National Trust along with the house, its grounds, and the rest of the contents by Sir Henry Hugh Arthur Hoare, 6th Bt (1865 – 1947) in 1946
Credit line
Stourhead, The Hoare Collection (National Trust)
Marks and inscriptions
Milton
Makers and roles
John Michael Rysbrack (Antwerp 1684 – London 1770)