Biography

Neoclassical sculptor whose busts made him the most fashionable English portrait sculptor of his day. He came from an artistic family originally from Antwerp. His father and grandfather were painters.

At 13 Nollekens entered the studio of the noted sculptor of tombs and busts Peter Scheemakers, from whom Nollekens learned to appreciate the sculpture of antiquity. In 1760 he went to Rome, where David Garrick and Laurence Sterne were among the English visitors who sat for him. After his return to England in 1770 he became a member of the Royal Academy (1772) and was patronized by George III. Among his famous likenesses are those of George III, William Pitt, Charles James Fox, and Benjamin West. Many of his works were influenced by ancient Roman busts of the late Republic style. He personally preferred sculpturing mythological works based on ancient prototypes, especially genteel but erotic Venuses delicately modeled in an almost Rococo manner.