Editing Thomas Banks (sculptor) (section)

==Life==
[[File:Alcyone ceyx.jpg|thumb|''Alcyone and Ceyx'' marble bas relief, originally at [[Parlington Hall]], Aberford; removed to Lotherton Hall sometime after 1905.]]
The son of William Banks, a [[Surveyor (surveying)|surveyor]] who was land steward to the [[Duke of Beaufort]], he was born in London. He was educated at [[Ross-on-Wye]]. Banks was taught drawing by his father, and from 1750 to 1756 was apprenticed to a woodcarver, William Barlow, in London. In his spare time he worked at sculpture, spending his evenings in the studio of the Flemish émigré sculptor [[Peter Scheemakers]]. During this period he is known to have worked for the architect [[William Kent]]. Before 1772, when he obtained a travelling studentship given by the [[Royal Academy]] and proceeded to Rome, he had already exhibited several fine works.{{sfn|Anonymous|1911}}

Returning to England in 1779 Banks found that the taste for classical poetry, long the source of his inspiration, no longer existed, and he spent two years in [[Saint Petersburg]], being employed by [[Catherine II of Russia|Catherine the Great]], who purchased his ''Cupid Tormenting a Butterfly''. On his return to England he modelled his colossal ''[[Achilles]] Mourning the Loss of [[Briseis]]'', a work full of force and passion. He was elected, in 1784, an associate of the [[Royal Academy]] and in the following year became a full member.{{sfn|Anonymous|1911}}

Banks died in London on 2 February 1805.{{sfn|Anonymous|1911}} He is buried in the churchyard of  [[St Mary on Paddington Green Church]]. A plaque to his memory was also erected in [[Westminster Abbey]].<ref name="RGunnis">{{cite book|author=Robert Gunnis |author-link=Rupert Gunnis |publisher=The Abbey Library|year=1951|title=Dictionary of British Sculpture 1660-1851|isbn=}}</ref>