Gibson, John (1790–1866)

Welsh sculptor. He was one of the leading neoclassicists of the 19th century. Most of his subjects were taken from classical mythology, such as Proserpine and Sappho and Psyche. Among his many imposing monumental works is Queen Victoria with Clemency and Justice 1855 in the Houses of Parliament.

Gibson was born in Gyffin, near Conway. He worked in the studios of the two most important neoclassical sculptors, Antonio Canova and Bertel Thorvaldsen, and studied Greek and Roman works closely, aiming for a sculpture that expressed a timeless quality. Even his portraits show a fascination with Greek and Roman civilization; he represented the politician Robert Peel in a Roman toga 1852 (Westminster Abbey); and following ancient Greek practice he painted several of his statues, such as his marble Venus 1854, a process that his contemporaries thought a daring innovation.