Sir H. C. Englefield, Bart. (1818): Art, History and Details

Sir H. C. Englefield, Bart. (1818) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Francis Legatt Chantrey (British, 1781–1841).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

To modern eyes, a bare-chested portrait of a man in his mid-60s might seem undignified. However, it was fashionable for gentlemen of Englefield’s generation to be portrayed in this manner, deliberately referencing the antique sculptures of Roman statesmen they admired. As a Catholic, Englefield was barred from taking part in politics in England; however, he was a member of several clubs devoted to the amateur study of art, science, and history. Among these were the Society of Dilettanti, which championed the works of antiquity and promoted the creation of modern art in the same spirit—like this marble bust by celebrated sculptor Francis Legatt Chantrey.

Object facts

• Title: Sir H. C. Englefield, Bart.
• Date: 1818
• Creator attribution: Francis Legatt Chantrey (British, 1781–1841)
• Culture: England, 19th century
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: marble
• Dimensions: Overall: 55.3 x 35.1 x 26.7 cm (21 3/4 x 13 13/16 x 10 1/2 in.)
• Collection: Mod Euro - Sculpture 1800-1960
• Department: Modern European Painting and Sculpture
• Accession number: 1978.22

A detail from the museum

Initially, Chantrey tried to establish himself as a portrait painter. After 1805, he painted only on occasion and from 1811–20, he became the leading portrait sculptor in Regency Era Great Britain.

Collection credit

Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Lee, Sherman E. “The Year in Review for 1978.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 66, no. 1 (January 1979): 3–48.
• Boyd, Bentley. “Laser Treatment: A new cleaning tool in the conservation laboratories applies technology originally developed for tattoo removal and cosmetic skin treatments.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 60, no. 1 (January/February 2020): 12-13.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.