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Lt. Col. William Martin Leake (1777-1860) F.R.S., LL.D.
Sculptor: Behnes, William
White marble portrait bust of William Martin Leake.
Given by S. M. Leake
Method of acquisition: Given (1865-07-03) by Leake, S. M.
19th Century, Mid#
Production date:
marked
AD 1840
: dated
Dublin-born and Royal Academy-trained, William Behnes was a highly successful and sought-after portrait sculptor, considered by many the equal of the highly prolific portraitist, Sir Francis Chantrey (1781-1841).
Founder of the Royal Geographical Society, Leake is acknowledged as one of the greatest authorities on the topography of Ancient Greece. He was commissioned in the Royal Artillery in 1794 and between 1798 and 1810 spent most of his time on missions to Ottoman Turkey and Greece. After 1815, he lived in England working on his notes, and publishing numerous papers and ten books, including the 'Topography of Athens' (1821) and 'Travels in Northern Greece' (1835). He presented his collection of classical marbles to the British Museum in 1839, the year before this bust was made.
In 1864, four years after Leake’s death, the Fitzwilliam Museum purchased his collection of ancient coins, Greek vases, gems, and bronzes for £5,000. This was the Museum’s first major purchase and was hotly debated. Many objects from the Leake Collection are on view in the Greek and Roman Gallery, including a black-figure Amphora made in Athens, c.520-510 BCE, portraying a warrior’s departure.
Plinth
Height 14.6 cm
Bust
Height 63.5 cm
Carving : White marble, carved
Accession number: M.1-1865
Primary reference Number: 30923
External ID: CAM_CCF_M_1_1865
Stable URI
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Applied Arts
This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:
The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Lt. Col. William Martin Leake (1777-1860) F.R.S., LL.D." Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/30923 Accessed: 2024-04-19 15:15:10
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/30923
|title=Lt. Col. William Martin Leake (1777-1860) F.R.S., LL.D.
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-04-19 15:15:10|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
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https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/api/v1/objects/object-30923
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<img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/aa/aa37/M_1_1865_201108_amt49_dc2.jpg"
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<figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Lt. Col. William Martin Leake (1777-1860) F.R.S., LL.D.</figcaption>
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