Page:Dictionary of Artists of the English School (1878).djvu/391

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a sketch for a monument. The terra-cotta \ ornaments for the interior of St. Pancras' new church are designed by him. His name is omitted from the list of members of the Society in 1844.

ROTH, William, portrait painter. Practised both in oil and miniature. He exhibited at the Chartered Society in 1768, and about 1770 was at Reading, and painted several portraits there and in the neighbourhood. 'He died soon after.

ROTHWELL, Richard, R.H. A., por- trait painter. He was born at Athlone in 1800, and in 1815 commenced his studies in Dublin, and practising there, was early elected a member of the Irish Academy. He afterwards came to London, and was employed in the studio of Sir Thomas Lawrence, whose manner he imitated. His early portraits were of much promise. He first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1830, and again in 1831 and 1832, number- ing among his sitters the Duchess of Kent, and other persons of distinction. He then travelled on the Continent, and does not appear again as an exhibitor till 1835, when, with some portraits, he sent a l Seren- ade/ and 'Kate Kearney.' From this time he was a yearly exhibitor of his por- traits, with an occasional subject picture, up to 1847 ; but he was unable to maintain the opinion which his first works gained him. In 1848, he went for a time to Dub- lin, and from thence sent a picture to the exhibition, and for the next two years exhibited without giving his address, but appears to have returned to- London. In 1858, he was residing in Leamington, and sent from thence in that year to the exhi- bition, ' A Remembrance of the Carnival ;' and in 1862, ' The Student's Aspiration,' his last exhibited work. He was disap pointed and discouraged, and went over to Paris, where he settled in the practice of his

Srofession, and was almost lost sight of. He ied at Rome in September, 1868. ROTtiWELL, Thomas, engraver. He was of good repute in his profession. He died at Birmingham, January 16, 1807, aged 65.

ROUBILIAC, Louis Francois, sculp- tor. Was born in Lyons in 1703 ; some accounts give an earlier date. He received a fair general education, and was the pupil of Balthazar at Dresden. He is said to have come to England in 1720, but Dussieux, in his * Artistes Francais a l'Etranger,' says he could not have come here in that year, as he was in France in 1730, and gained the second grand medal in sculpture, though the two statements are not absolutely inconsistent. His princ - pal works were, however, executed in Eng- land. He was first employed in this coun- try by Thomas Carter, and we are told that he picked up a pocket-book containing a 370

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large sum of money, which introduced him to the owner, Sir Edward Walpole, by whose assistance he obtained better employ- ment under Henry Cheere, and was after- wards enabled to set up for himself in St. Martin's Lane.

He was chiefly employed in monumental works, and some of nis best will be found in Westminster Abbey. That to the Duke of Argyll is a fine example — the figure of 4 Eloquence,' part of the group, has been much praised, both by Bacon, R.A., and Canova, who deemed it the finest piece of modern art he had seen in this country. Mrs. Nightingale's monument has also been highly esteemed, as well as Sir Isaac New- ton's and Handel's ; and the monument of the Duke and Duchess of Montagu at Boughton ranks among his finest works. . There is also at the British Museum, a noble statue of Shakespeare, executed by him for Garrick ; and at the Senate House. Cambridge, statues of George I. ana Charles, Duke of Somerset. His art was of a decorative and ornamental character, his finish elaborately careful. Flaxman, R.A., whose own severe art would not lead to an appreciation of Roubiliac's, admitted that he possessed considerable talents ; but spoke depreciatingly of him, saying 'his thoughts were conceits, and his composi- tions epigrams.'

He paid a short visit to Italy in com- pany with Arthur Pond, and stayed only three days in Rome, where he laughed at all the remains of ancient sculpture. Ber- nini was his model. He was a great en- thusiast, and did not lack conceit. Gay- fere, the abbey mason, found him one day witn folded arms, his eves fixed upon one of his figures on whicn he was at work, and, as he approached, the artist said in a whisper, ' Hush, hush ! he vill speake pre- sently.' He died from the effects of un- skilful bleeding, January 11, 1762, and was buried in the French church, St. Martin's-le-Grand. His funeral was at- tended by Reynolds and Hogarth. He was so seriously in debt, notwithstanding the large patronage he had enjoyed, that his effects only paid 1*. 6d. in the pound.

ROUQUET, Jean, enamel painter. Born in Geneva, of French extraction. Came to England in the reign of George II., and practised his art in London for nearly 30 years. He imitated Zincke with some success, and was the companion of Hogarth, Garrick, Foote, and the wits of the day. He published in Paris, in 1755, 'L'Etat des Arts en Angleterre,' a work highly laudatory, of which a translation was afterwards published in London. He had returned to Paris, and died there in 1758.

ROUSSEAU, James, landscape painter. Was born in Paris, 1626, and was a pupil