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 288 British Sculpture. portrait-statues, of which those of John Howard and Dr. Johnson, in St. Paul's Cathedral, and the monument to Chatham, in Westminster Abbey, are considered the best. The original model for Dr. Johnson is in the Crystal Palace. None of these men — except, perhaps, Banks — are, however, worthy to rank with Flaxman, the restorer of English classical sculpture, who excelled even Canova in the boldness of his conceptions and the beauty of his execution. John Flaxman was the son of a modeller and dealer in plaster figures. He was born at York, July 6th, 1755. He commenced studying at the Royal Academy when only fifteen, but never received regular lessons from any master. In 1782 he married Miss Denham, a lady whose genuine love of art was of the greatest service to him. In 1787 Flaxman went to Italy, and soon after his return to Eng- land, in 1797, he was elected an associate of the Royal Academy. In 1800 he became an Academician, in 1810 was appointed Professor of Sculpture to the Academy, and from that time till his death in 1826 his labours in every branch of his art were unceasing. Flaxman has justly been called the author of modern bas-relief : even Ghiberti's and Canova' s reliefs were too much like raised paintings ; but the English master fully recognised the true limits of his art. The study of the relics of antiquity discovered in Italy at the beginning of the present century brought the contrast between the severe simplicity of Greek reliefs and the affected mannerism of those of his predecessors vividly before him. He was also one of the first to appreciate at their true value the sculptures of Wells, Lincoln, and other cathedrals ; and his Lectures on Sculpture are still the best in the English language. Of his sculptures, the