Unknown, Cast of a bust of Michelangelo.
Plaster. 710 mm x 570 mm x 290 mm. © Photo: Royal Academy of Arts, London.
This image is not available to download. To licence this image for commercial purposes, contact our Picture Library at picturelibrary@royalacademy.org.uk
Unknown, Cast of a bust of Michelangelo.
Plaster. 710 mm x 570 mm x 290 mm. © Photo: Royal Academy of Arts, London.
This image is not available to download. To licence this image for commercial purposes, contact our Picture Library at picturelibrary@royalacademy.org.uk
Unknown, Cast of a bust of Michelangelo.
Plaster. 710 mm x 570 mm x 290 mm. © Photo: Royal Academy of Arts, London.
This image is not available to download. To licence this image for commercial purposes, contact our Picture Library at picturelibrary@royalacademy.org.uk
Unknown, Cast of a bust of Michelangelo.
Plaster. 710 mm x 570 mm x 290 mm. © Photo: Royal Academy of Arts, London.
This image is not available to download. To licence this image for commercial purposes, contact our Picture Library at picturelibrary@royalacademy.org.uk
Cast of a bust of Michelangelo
Unknown
RA Collection: Art
On free display in Central Hall
This portrait bust of Michelangelo is one of eight busts of artists and architects installed in the 'Octagon' in the Main Galleries at Burlington House when the RA moved there in 1868.
The cast was made from a bust by Michael Rysbrack (1694-1770), one of the leading sculptors of the 18th century. Rysbrack produced many portrait busts of historical figures including the artists Rubens and Van Dyck, and the architects Palladio and Inigo Jones. These were much in demand for the decoration of libraries, reflecting British patrons’ growing appreciation of their artistic forebears.
The bust has much in common with the bronze bust made by Danielle da Volterra (1509-66), a close associate of Michelangelo, in the Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence. This bust (or a cast of it) can be seen in Sir Joshua Reynolds’ self-portrait in the RA collection.
Further Reading
Margaret Whinney, Sculpture in Britain 1530-1830, London, 1988, p.169
Object details
710 mm x 570 mm x 290 mm
Start exploring the RA Collection
- Explore art works, paint-smeared palettes, scribbled letters and more...
- Artists and architects have run the RA for 250 years.
Our Collection is a record of them.
Related articles
-
![RA cast display installation]()
Our Collection
6 months ago
Video: Historic casts are re-installed at the RA Schools
After years in storage, watch as our cast collection is re-installed around the RA Schools.
-
![Richard Cosway RA, Richard and Maria Cosway, and Ottobah Cugoano (detail)]()
Our Collection
1 year ago
Untold Stories
Recent research reveals how the Royal Academy’s founding artists worked amidst Britain’s imperial expansion in the 18th century, the transatlantic slave trade, and a growing abolitionist movement.
-
![Sir Joshua Reynolds PRA,, Self-portrait of Sir Joshua Reynolds, PRA]()
Our Collection
> 1 year ago
Creative inspiration today from the first President of the Royal Academy
The RA’s founding President Joshua Reynolds may have shaken up the art world when he delivered his ‘Discourses’ lectures, but are they still relevant now? We take a closer look at what artists and art-lovers can learn from the series today.
-
![Emma Stibbon RA, Collapsed Whaling Station, Deception Island, Antarctica]()
Our Collection
> 1 year ago
Video: Apocalyptic printmaking and extreme environments with Emma Stibbon RA
Watch Emma Stibbon describes the unforgiving conditions and dramatic landscapes that inspired her display in the Collection Gallery.
