Thomas Campbell

1790 - 1858

Sculptor. Born in Edinburgh, Campbell received little formal education but was apprenticed to a marble-cutter on Leith Walk. He came to the attention of Gilbert Innes of Stow, in whose home Campbell had been installing a chimney-piece. Innes supported Campbell's training at the Royal Academy Schools in London in 1815. He travelled to Rome in 1818, again assisted by Innes, and set up a studio there to produce Neo-Classical busts for the many eminent visitors to the city. He executed busts of Pope Pius VII and Cardinal Consalvi for King George IV. Campbell returned to England in 1829 and established himself in London, where he continued produce busts, while also keeping his studio in Rome. He also designed numerous monuments. In Scotland, he was responsible for the bronzes of the Duke of York on the esplanade of Edinburgh Castle and of Sir John Hope, 4th Earl of Hopetoun (1765 - 1823) in front of Dundas House in Edinburgh (1833), together with the Duke of Gordon Statue in Aberdeen (1844), which was the first granite statue in Britain.

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