John Michael Rysbrack, 1694–1770, Flemish, active in Britain (from 1720)
Title:
William III
Date:
ca. 1736
Materials & Techniques:
Marble
Dimensions:
Overall: 25 1/2 x 18 x 11 3/4 inches (64.8 x 45.7 x 29.8 cm)
Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1977.14.27
Gallery Label:
This posthumous bust of William III was made by John Michael Rysbrack, an émigré Flemish artist who became England’s leading sculptor in the first half of the eighteenth century. The Dutch-born William assumed the English throne in 1688 after landing in England with a small army. He had been invited to intervene in British affairs by a group of Whig grandees who were opposed to the policies of the Catholic King James II, which they feared would lead to the end of English Protestantism. William’s foreign policy led to two long wars against France from which Britain emerged as a major global power. This celebratory bust of William as an ancient Roman was made more than thirty years after his death, indicative of his lasting legacy as an icon of British Protestantism. Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2016