Editing Joseph Nollekens (section)

==Life==
Nollekens was born on 11 August 1737 at [[Quo Vadis (restaurant)|28 Dean Street]], [[Soho]], London,<ref name="smith1" /> the son of the [[Austrian Netherlands|Flemish]] painter [[Josef Frans Nollekens]] (1702–1748) who had moved from [[Antwerp]] to London in 1733.<ref name="rkd" /><ref name="eb1911" /> He studied first under another Flemish immigrant in London, the sculptor [[Peter Scheemakers]], before studying and working as an antiques dealer, restorer and copier in [[Rome]] from 1760 or 1762.<ref name="browne" /> The sculptures he made in Rome included  a marble of ''Timocles Before Alexander'', for which he was awarded fifty guineas by the [[Royal Society of Arts|Society of Arts]], and busts of [[Laurence Sterne]] and [[David Garrick]], who were visiting the city.<ref name="ggc" />

On his return to London in 1770 he set up as a maker of [[Bust (sculpture)|bust]]s and monuments at 9, [[Mortimer Street]],<ref name="smith1" /> where he built up a large practice. Although he preferred working on mythological subjects, it was through his portrait busts that he became famous and one of the most fashionable portrait sculptors in Britain.<ref name="ggc" /> In 1772 he married Mary, daughter of the judge and grocer [[Saunders Welch]].<ref name="smith1" />

He enjoyed the patronage of King [[George III]] and went on to sculpt a number of British political figures, including George III himself, [[William Pitt the Younger]], [[Charles James Fox]], the [[:Image:Nollekens Russell p1070191.jpg|Duke of Bedford]] and [[Charles Watson-Wentworth]]. He also made busts of  figures from the arts such as [[Benjamin West]]. Most of his subjects were represented in classical costume.

''Faith'', a sculpture commissioned by Henry Howard following the death of his wife Maria in 1788 in childbirth at [[Corby Castle]], is said to be Nollekens' finest work. The sculpture can be seen in the Howard Chapel at the Parish Church of [[Wetheral]], Cumbria.<ref name="holmes" />

[[File:Faith by Joseph Nollekens.JPG|thumb|''Faith'' in [[Wetheral]] Parish Church, Cumbria. Commissioned by Henry Howard after the death of his wife Maria in 1788.]]

Although he took great care over the modelling of the details of his sculptures, the marble versions were normally made by assistants,{{sfn|Whinney|1971|page=113}} such as [[Sebastian Gahagan]] who carved Nollekens' statue of William Pitt for the [[Senate House, Cambridge]],<ref name="moore" /> and L. Alexander Goblet.{{sfn|Whinney|1971|page=155}} Some subjects were produced in large numbers: more than 70 replicas of Nollekens' bust of Pitt are known.<ref name="scherf" />

Nollekens became an associate of the [[Royal Academy of Arts|Royal Academy]] in 1771 and a full academician the following year.{{sfn|Whinney|1971|page=113}}

Painted around that time, his portrait by the celebrated artist [[Mary Moser]] now hangs in the [[Yale Center for British Art]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Joseph Nollekens - YCBA Collections Search |url=https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:952 |access-date=2023-02-28 |website=collections.britishart.yale.edu}}</ref>