Flaxman, John

John (1755-1826), an English sculptor. He was born at York and died at London. Flaxman assisted his father in the manufacture of plaster casts and images for sale in a shop in Covent Garden. He learned to read Greek and Latin out of a desire to read up on the figures he was making. At fifteen years of age he won attention from the Royal Academy by exhibiting a wax model of Neptune. He then went to Italy to study. He was elected a member of the Royal Academy in 1800. Flaxman designed ornaments for Wedgewood's noted wares, and also the statues of Nelson, Howe, and Reynolds in St. Paul's. He designed a series of figures to illustrate the Odyssey, Dante, and Aeschylus. He is remembered best as the designer of Achilles' shield, which gives his conception of the shield as it is described by Homer. The Flaxman Museum of University College, London, contains a number of original models and drawings. Flaxman's lectures on sculpture, delivered in the Royal Academy, appeared in book form after his death, and have passed through successive editions.