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Attributed to Lauwrence Macdonald (1799-1878)
Portrait of a man, dressed in the antique manner and a woman with a pearl bun
Pair of busts on white marble pedestal
H 69 and 71 cm
Lawrence MacDonald, born in Scotland in 1799, was apprenticed to Thomas Gibson, a local stonemason, before moving to Edinburgh and then to Rome, where he became a founding member of the British Academy of Arts.
Installed in Rome from 1831 to 1878, he often worked for a wealthy English clientele who went on the "Grand Tour", in a neo-classical taste .
Our pair of busts is quite representative of this "softened" neo-classical style, in which the severe style gives way to a measured elegance and the integration of comtenporary elements, such as the pearl bun and the headdress of the female model.
Macdonald exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy in London and the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh. Counting Prince Albert among his patrons, he also exhibited at the 1851 London World's Fair.
Works by Macdonald are in several public collections, including the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, the Henry Moore Institute in Leeds, and the National Portrait Gallery in London.
