Bust of Homer, Kenwood House

Joseph Wilton was the first English sculptor to study in the great academies of Europe and was a Founder Member of the Royal Academy. He was an early proponent of the neo-classical style, specialising in antique-style portrait busts often showing figures wrapped in togas. Wilton worked in close association with architects William Chambers and Robert Adam, producing chimney-pieces and decorative sculpture.

This marble bust of Homer, dated around 1760, is a good example of Wilton’s forceful style. It was acquired for Kenwood in 1976 to replace a bust of Homer given to William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield by Alexander Pope, which remains in the collection of the Mansfield family at Scone Palace. Lord Mansfield’s bust of Homer, also a copy after the antique original now in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples, appeared in the background of his portrait by David Martin, painted for the Library at Kenwood.

Overlooking London’s Hampstead Heath since the early 17th century, Kenwood House was transformed in the 18th century into a grand neoclassical villa. Now restored to its Georgian splendour, Kenwood is home to a world-famous art collection.