The statue of the artist Raphael is located outside on the left 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 Raphael 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.
The statue of Raphael was placed outside the Walker Art Gallery, a building which celebrates artistic creativity, skill and its history, because of his reputation and legacy that historically has been used to epitomize the visual arts, standing as the representative of painting.
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 Raphael is made of Carrara marble which was a popular material with 19th century sculptors.
The 8 feet, 8 inches high sculpture shows Raphael with long wavy hair and sitting on a chair facing slightly to the right. His right arm is resting on his thigh and his left arm is hanging over the back of the chair. 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. There is a chain around his neck. A palette 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. Raphael is missing a foot, a hand, his nose, a medallion and a pen.
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Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio, 1483-1520) Raphael was an Italian artist and architect. He was born on 6th April 1483 in Urbino, the son of Giovanni Santi and Magia di Battista Ciarla.
He was a master painter and a central artistic figure in the period 1500-1520, which is often identified as the High Renaissance.
In 1504, Raphael moved to Florence, where he was influenced by the works of the Italian painters Fra Bartolommeo, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Masaccio. To Raphael, these innovative artists had achieved a whole new level of depth in their composition. By closely studying the details of their work, Raphael managed to develop an even more intricate and expressive personal style than was evident in his earlier paintings.
In 1508 Raphael moved to Rome to paint in the Vatican "Stanze" ("Room"), under Pope Julius II’s patronage.
Raphael is best known for his Madonnas and for his large figure compositions in the Vatican. His work is admired for its clarity of form and ease of composition and for its visual achievement of the Neoplatonic ideal of human grandeur.
He died in Rome aged 37 on 6th April 1520, (his birthday). His body was interred at the Pantheon in Rome, Italy.
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