Between ‘old’ and ‘new’ sculpture: Thomas Woolner and the making of Victorian portrait sculpture

Abstract

This article examines how Victorian sculptors conceived and contributed to the concept of the modern British hero through sculpture. It examines the conceptual, emotional and technical aspects of making a portrait sculpture, through a close analysis of Thomas Woolner’s recently published lectures on sculpture (c. 1877). Departing from traditional academic approaches that prioritized classical ideals, Woolner presented an innovative pedagogical framework that guided students through the sculptural process, from conceiving to finishing a statue. His writings advocate deeper engagement with sculpture itself, offering unprecedented tools for understanding how a sculptor sought to convey ideas, feelings or actions in portrait sculpture. This challenges art historians to reconsider making as a more holistic set of activities and to centre artists’ pedagogical contributions more firmly in the history of sculpture and in the interpretation of their work. The lectures also illuminate Woolner’s critical stance towards the emerging New Sculpture and its leading figures, notably Frederic Leighton, and prompt us to draw connections across mid and late nineteenth-century debates on sculpture.