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| William McTaggart Seated Model ca. 1852-59 oil on paper, mounted on panel Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh |
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| William McTaggart Standing Model ca. 1852-59 oil on paper, mounted on panel Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh |
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| William McTaggart Life Study of Two Models ca. 1855 oil on canvas Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh |
"William McTaggart painted extensively from the living model at the Trustees Academy in Edinburgh from the mid-1850s onwards, winning third prize for life painting in 1855, first prize in 1856, and an honorary prize in 1857, since, as a previous winner, he could not be awarded the prize a second time. The present study [directly above] is unusual in depicting two female models posing together. The similarity in physique and features between the two models might suggest that the study was made from one model in two different poses, but the existence of at least two other studies of the same composition by McTaggart's fellow students indicates that the models, like the antique figures [plaster casts] in the Academy, were deliberately positioned together in order to present an additional challenge. Though an innovation at the Trustees Academy, this had been common in the French Academy since the eighteenth century and at the Royal Academy [in London] from at least the 1830s."
"The living model was not incorporated into the curriculum of the Trustees Academy until the 1830s, before which time many studies from the life made by students were copied in "the flat" from drawings or engravings. By 1850 life classes were held from 8 to 10 a.m. and from 6 to 8 p.m. on weekdays, to allow for those students in employment. While male models posed in the evenings, female models worked in the mornings – perhaps, it has been suggested, to avoid their going home in the dark, or alternatively to discourage students from socializing with them after hours. Certainly Robert Scott Lauder ran the life class with a rod of iron, suspending one of his students in the summer of 1853, 'for having pointed out and taken notice of one of the Female Models in the street.' The student was not allowed back until he had made a written apology to the Board on his own behalf and on behalf of the model."
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| William McTaggart Seated Model ca. 1852-59 oil on paper Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh |
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| William McTaggart Standing Model ca. 1852-59 drawing Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh |
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| William McTaggart Seated Model ca. 1852-59 drawing Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh |
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| William McTaggart Model Leaning on a Plinth ca. 1852-59 drawing Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh |
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| William McTaggart Cast of the so-called Dying Alexander ca. 1852-59 drawing Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh |
"The Trustees Academy had begun to assemble a collection of antique casts in 1798, although the cost of importing such objects meant that progress was comparatively slow. In 1837 a catalogue of the casts was compiled, by which time it was claimed to represent 'the history of sculpture during a period of rather more than two thousand two hundred years.' By the 1850s the cast collection contained many notable classical paradigms. . . . It was not, however, the increased provision of casts that enhanced the educational opportunities at the Trustees Academy during McTaggart's studentship, but the inspirational teaching of Robert Scott Lauder, officially appointed as Director of the Antique in 1852. On his arrival Lauder set about cleaning the casts, rearranging them into groups, and lighting them dramatically for composition studies. Lauder, in addition, imposed strict discipline and a competitive edge among the students, McTaggart's fellow-pupil recalling to him in 1860: 'our enthusiastic talk, our quick march up to the academy, our earnest work, our purpose to take the prizes (which we did)."
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| William Mulready Recumbent Model 1852 drawing Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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| William Mulready Standing Model ca. 1850 drawing Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
"Mulready had drawn from the model since at least 1800, when he was admitted to the life class at the Royal Academy. However, it was only in 1840 that he began to develop his meticulous, refined manner of drawing in coloured chalks. Mulready was concerned to depict the figure with graphic naturalism, since he believed that 'all the characteristics of the model chosen should be strictly attended to, and that it was no part of the student's business in drawing from the nude, to mould it to some preconceived idea, to proportions or idealization of the antique.' In his lifetime William Mulready's superb technical skill in drawing the model was widely acknowledged: several of his drawings were acquired by the Schools of Design in 1859, some of which were made into lithographs for use in provincial schools. Already his nude studies had been exhibited at Gore House in 1853. Despite efforts to keep her away, Queen Victoria [a keen amateur artist herself] made a close inspection, 'making frequent exclamations of admiration.' She subsequently purchased five studies for Prince Albert. Yet, on the whole, Mulready was reluctant to part with these studies, 'fearing that they were appreciated for the wrong reasons."
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| Frederic, Lord Leighton Reclining Model ca. 1850-53 drawing Royal Academy of Arts, London |
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| Frederic, Lord Leighton Standing Model ca. 1850-53 drawing Royal Academy of Arts |
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| Frederic, Lord Leighton Standing Model ca. 1850-53 drawing Royal Academy of Arts, London |
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| Frederic, Lord Leighton Seated Model ca. 1850-53 drawing Royal Academy of Arts, London |
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| Frederic, Lord Leighton Reclining Model ca. 1850-53 drawing Royal Academy of Arts, London |
"[The life drawings above were] presented by Leighton's sisters to the Royal Academy after his death in 1896. Before his arrival in London in 1859, Leighton had studied at the Berlin Academy, at the Accademia di Belle Arte, Florence, and in Frankfurt, where he completed the first phase of his academic training. Following a spell in Italy, Leighton worked in Paris, where he imbibed the various influences of Delacroix, Ingres and Couture."
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| Frederic, Lord Leighton Head and Shoulders of Model ca. 1853 watercolor and gouache Royal Academy of Arts, London |
– quoted passages from The Artist's Model from Etty to Spencer by Martin Postle and William Vaughan (London: Merrell Holberton, 1999)