The statue of Michelangelo is located outside on the right of the entrance portico to the Walker Art Gallery on William Brown Street in Liverpool city centre.
The statue is included in the Grade II* listed description of the Walker Art Gallery by Historic England. (
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The statue of Michelangelo was commissioned by the brewer Sir Andrew Barclay Walker, and created by the sculptor John Warrington Wood in his studio in Rome in the 1870s. It was installed outside the gallery in 1877.
John Warrington Wood: 9th September 1839 - 26th December 1886
John Warrington Wood was a British sculptor of mythological and biblical subjects, and portrait busts. He was born in Warrington, Lancashire in 1839, and he trained as a stonemason. He moved to Rome in 1861, which was his main place of work. He exhibited works at the Royal Academy from 1868 to 1874. (
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The sculpture of Michelangelo is made of Carrara marble which was a popular material with 19th century sculptors.
The 8 feet, nine inches high sculpture shows Michelangelo with curly hair and beard sitting on a chair facing slightly to the right. His right arm is resting on the back of the chair and his left arm is bent and his fist resting on his thigh. He is wearing clothes of his time that include slip on shoes with buckles, leggings, a long open tunic over a shirt with long sleeves and turned back cuffs. Scrolls and art equipment can be seen at the side and base of the chair.
The statue has a weathered appearance due to its exposed location and the effect of harsh weather conditions. Heavy industrial pollution has formed a thick black crust on the surface, and erosion of the stone has worn away some details and features of the sculpture.
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Michelangelo Buonarroti, 1475-1564Michelangelo was an Italian artist, architect, sculptor and poet. He was and a central artistic figure in the period 1500-1520, which is often identified as the High Renaissance.
He was born in Caprese in the Republic of Florence on 6th March 1475 and died in Rome, on 18th February 1564.
He exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art.
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"Michelangelo trained first as a painter with Ghirlandaio, and then as a sculptor under the patronage of Lorenzo de' Medici. In 1496, already known as sculptor, he went to Rome, where he carved the 'Pietà' for St Peter's.
Back in Florence in 1501 he began work on many sculptural and painterly projects most of which were left unfinished in 1505, when he was summoned to Rome to begin work on a sculpted tomb for Pope Julius II, a project that dogged him until 1545. From 1508 to 1512 he painted the vault of the Sistine Chapel with scenes from the Old Testament, from the Creation to the Story of Noah. Immediately celebrated, the Sistine Chapel ceiling, with its innumerable figures in complex, twisting poses and its exuberant use of colour, is the chief source of the Mannerist style." Source: (
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