Grinling Gibbons | |
|---|---|
 Grinling Gibbons byGodfrey Kneller, c. 1690 | |
| Born | 4 April 1648 |
| Died | 3 August 1721(1721-08-03) (aged 73) |
| Resting place | St Paul's, Covent Garden, London |
| Occupation(s) | Sculptor and wood carver |
| Known for | Works onSt Paul's Cathedral |
Grinling Gibbons (4 April 1648 – 3 August 1721) was an Anglo-Dutch sculptor andwood carver known for his work in England, includingWindsor Castle, theRoyal Hospital Chelsea andHampton Court Palace,St Paul's Cathedral and other London churches,Petworth House and other country houses,Trinity College, Oxford andTrinity College, Cambridge. Gibbons was born to English parents in Holland, where he was educated.[1]
His father was a merchant. Gibbons was a member of theDrapers' Company of London; he is widely regarded as the finest wood carver working in England, and the only one whose name is widely known among the general public. Most of his work is in lime (Tilia) wood, especially decorativeBaroque garlands made up ofstill-life elements at about life size, made to frame mirrors and decorate the walls of churches and palaces, but he also produced furniture and small relief plaques with figurative scenes. He also worked in stone, mostly for churches. By the time he was established he led a large workshop, and the extent to which his personal hand appears in later work varies.[citation needed]
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Very little is known about his early life. The name Grinling is formed from sections of two family names.
He was born inRotterdam, Netherlands, and it is sometimes thought that his father may have been the Englishman Samuel Gibbons, who worked underInigo Jones, but even two of his closest acquaintances, the portrait painterThomas Murray and the diaristJohn Evelyn, cannot agree on how he came to be introduced to KingCharles II. He moved toDeptford, England, around 1667, and by 1693 had accepted commissions from the royal family and had been appointed as a master carver.[2] By 1680 he was already known as the "King's Carver", and carried out exquisite work forSt Paul's Cathedral,Windsor Castle, and theEarl of Essex's house atCassiobury. His carving was so fine that it was said a pot of carved flowers above his house in London would tremble from the motion of passing coaches.
The diarist Evelyn first discovered Gibbons' talent by chance in 1671. Evelyn, from whom Gibbons rented a cottage near Evelyn's home inSayes Court,Deptford (today part of south-east London), wrote the following: "I saw the young man at his carving, by the light of a candle. I saw him to be engaged on a carved representation ofTintoretto'sCrucifixion, which he had in a frame of his own making." Later that same evening, Evelyn described what he had seen to SirChristopher Wren. The ‘Crucifixion’ and frame now hang in the library inDunham Massey Hall in Cheshire.[3] Wren and Evelyn then introduced him to King Charles II who gave him his first commission – still resting in the dining room of Windsor Castle.
Gibbons was a member of theDrapers' Company in London, being admitted by patrimony in 1672 and called to the livery in 1685. He was elected to the court and as a warden and then stood for election to be Master in 1718, 1719, and 1720, losing to an alderman each time.[4]
Horace Walpole later wrote about Gibbons: "There is no instance of a man before Gibbons who gave wood the loose and airy lightness of flowers, and chained together the various productions of the elements with the free disorder natural to each species."
Gibbons is buried atSt Paul's, Covent Garden, London, along with his wife Elizabeth. They are both buried in the crypt as attested by a plaque in the church below a wreath of limewood, carved by Gibbons and donated by the Dean and Chapter of St Paul's Cathedral in 1965.
Gibbons was employed by Wren to work onSt Paul's Cathedral and later was appointed as master carver toGeorge I. He was also commissioned byWilliam III to create carvings, some of which adornKensington Palace. An example of his work can be seen in the Presence Chamber above the fireplace, which was originally intended to frame a portrait of QueenMary II after her death in 1694. Also in the Orangery at Kensington, you can see some his pieces. Many fine examples of his work can still be seen in the churches around London, particularly the choir stalls and organ case ofSt Paul's Cathedral. Some of the finest Gibbons carvings accessible to the general public are those on display at the National Trust'sPetworth House in West Sussex.[5] At Petworth the Carved Room is host to a fine and extensive display of intricate wooden carvings by Gibbons.
His work can be seen in the London churches ofSt Michael Paternoster Royal andSt James, Piccadilly, where he carved the woodreredos and marble font. TheAnglican dislike of paintedaltarpieces[citation needed] typically left a large space on the east wall that needed filling, which often gave Grinling's garlands a very prominent position, as here.
In 1682 King Charles II commissioned Gibbons to carve a panel as a diplomatic gift for his political allyCosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany. TheCosimo Panel is an allegory of art triumphing over hatred and turmoil and includes a medallion with a low relief ofPietro da Cortona, Cosimo's favourite painter. The panel is housed in thePalazzo Pitti in Florence. It was displayed in the United Kingdom in theGrinling Gibbons and the Art of Carving exhibition held at theVictoria and Albert Museum from 22 October 1998 until 24 January 1999.[6]
Tobias Rustat commissioned three statues of Stuart kings from the workshop of Grinling Gibbons in the 1670s and '80s. These were the standingstatue of Charles II at theRoyal Hospital Chelsea, anequestrian statue of Charles II inWindsor Castle and thestatue of James II, now in Trafalgar Square. The last was commissioned for thePalace of Whitehall, apparently at the same time as the standing Charles II, and the two works might have been intended aspendant pieces.[7]
In 1685, the new kingJames II asked Gibbons to carve a panel for another Italian ally,Francesco II d'Este, Duke of Modena, brother to his second wifeMary of Modena. TheModena Panel is amemento mori for Charles II who died earlier that year and includes a funeraldirge from the playThe Contention of Ajax and Ulysses by dramatistJames Shirley: "There is no armour against fate; Death lays its icy hand on kings: Sceptre and crown must tumble down". It also features a medallion self-portrait of Gibbons. The panel is displayed in theGalleria Estense inModena.[8]
TheChurch of St Peter and St Paul, Exton, Rutland, has a fine marble tomb by Gibbons, dating from 1685, showingBaptist Noel, 3rd Viscount Campden with his fourth wife,Elizabeth Bertie, and carvings of his 19 children.[9]
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Many experienced Flemish sculptors such asArtus Quellinus III,John Nost, Anthony Verhuke,Laurens van der Meulen andPeter van Dievoet also worked in Gibbon's London workshop as "servants", i.e. collaborators. As these Flemish artists were not trainees they were never entered in the Draper's records. In a document dated 1679 van der Meulen, Quellin and Verhuke are referred to as servants of Gibbons. Many of them left London and returned to their home country after theGlorious Revolution of 1688.[10]
In the Gibbons workshop these Flemish artists worked on various commissions but the contributions of particular artists active in the workshop are not always identifiable.[11] Laurens van der Meulen and Peter van Dievoet are known to have collaborated on the creation of the statue of King James II during their stay in the workshop of Gibbons.[12]
St Michael and All Angels Church, Badminton, has a monument by Gibbons toHenry Somerset, 1st Duke of Beaufort (1629–1700). He was buried alongside his ancestors in the Beaufort Chapel inSt George's Chapel, Windsor,[13][14] but the monument was moved to Badminton in 1878.[15] The monument by Gibbons is now on the north side of the chancel at St Michael and All Angels Church, Badminton, and consists of aneffigy of the Duke inGarter robes, reclining on a sarcophagus and a plinth with relief of St George and the Dragon. There are twinCorinthian columns with embossed shafts,acanthus frieze,cornice with flaming urns, and the Duke's arms and supporters. At the top, 25 ft from the ground, is a tasseled cushion supporting acoronet; on the plinth are full-length female figures of Justice and Truth. Above the Duke's effigy, parted curtains show the heavenly host with palms and crowns. The Latin inscription displays the names of his family and the many offices he held.[16]
Gibbons made the monument for Admiral SirCloudesley Shovell, who was killed in theScilly naval disaster of 1707. Shovell's large marble monument can be seen in the south choir aisle ofWestminster Abbey.[17]
Gibbons often carvedpea pods in his work. There is a myth that Gibbons carved a closed pea pod at first, and then an open one when the work had been paid for.[18][19]
Gibbons is believed to have invented the method of building up carvings through separate layers, each layer being nailed to the one beneath.[20]The images below show a modern duplication of the technique.
Gibbons' association with Deptford is commemorated locally: Grinling Gibbons Primary School is in Clyde Street, near the site of Sayes Court in Deptford. Parts of New Cross and Deptford were in the "Grinling Gibbons" council ward from 1978 to 1998.[21]
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Seccombe, Thomas (1898). "Somerset, Henry". InLee, Sidney (ed.).Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 53. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 242–245.
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