George II

Although this bust is dated 1760, it is a late, probably workshop version of a bust Rysbrack executed in 1738. It is likely to have been produced to commemorate the King shortly after his death.

Rysbrack produced two busts of George II in 1738, one in terracotta and another in marble, which are both in the Royal Collection at Windsor.

Rysbrack (1694-1770) was born in Antwerp, and trained in the Netherlands, but spent his working life in Britain. He was one of the most important sculptors active in this country in the first half of the 18th century, and specialised in portrait busts and funerary monuments. Although he never visited Italy, many of his works are clearly indebted to classical archetypes. His terracotta models are particularly fine, and are often virtually finished pieces in their own right.