Editing Thomas Woolner (section)

==Art career==
Born in [[Hadleigh, Suffolk]], Woolner trained with the sculptor [[William Behnes]], exhibiting work at the [[Royal Academy]] from 1843. He became friendly with [[Dante Gabriel Rossetti]] and was invited by him to join the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.<ref>{{cite book | last1 = Robinson | first1 = Michael | title = The Pre-Raphaelites | publisher = Flame Tree Publishing | year = 2007 | location = London, England | pages = 42 | isbn = 978-1-84451-742-8}}</ref> Woolner was active in the early history of the group, emphasising the need for a more vivid form of realism in sculpture. Woolner's [[classic]]al inclinations became increasingly difficult to reconcile with Pre-Raphaelite Medievalism, but his belief in close observation of nature was consistent with their aims.

Woolner's sculptures immediately after the foundation of the Brotherhood in 1848 display close attention to detail. He made his name with forceful portrait busts and medallions, but was at first unable to make a living.  He was forced to emigrate to Australia in 1852 (inspiring the painting ''[[The Last of England (painting)|The Last of England]]'' by [[Ford Madox Brown]]), but after a year he returned to Britain, soon establishing himself as both a sculptor and art-dealer.

His visit to Australia nevertheless helped him to obtain commissions there and elsewhere for statues of British imperial heroes, such as [[Captain Cook]] and [[Sir Stamford Raffles]]. His bronze [[Godley Statue|statue]] of [[John Robert Godley]] in [[Christchurch]], New Zealand, was toppled and shattered into several pieces by the [[2011 Christchurch earthquake|February 2011 earthquake]]. It has since been repaired and was re-erected in March 2015.

Woolner became a close friend of [[Francis Turner Palgrave]]. The two shared a house and both were known for their combative personalities. [[henry Brooks Adams|Henry Adams]] refers to them in ''[[The Education of Henry Adams]]'', noting that Woolner had a "rough" personality and had to make "a supernatural effort" to be polite.<ref>Henry Adams, Ira B. Nadel, (ed), ''The Education of Henry Adams'', Oxford University Press, 1999, p.183.</ref> Woolner designed the [[:File:GoldenTreasuryTitlePage1861-2.jpg|frontispiece of a piping youth]] for Palgrave's famous verse anthology the ''[[Palgrave's Golden Treasury|Golden Treasury]]'' (1861). There was a minor scandal in 1862 when Palgrave was commissioned to write a catalogue for the [[1862 International Exhibition]], in which he praised Woolner and denigrated other sculptors, especially Woolner's main rival [[Carlo Marochetti]]. The well known controversialist [[Matthew James Higgins|Jacob Omnium]] pointed out in a series of letters to the press that the two lived together. [[William Holman Hunt]] wrote a reply supporting Woolner,<ref>James H. Coombs, ''A Pre-Raphaelite friendship: the correspondence of William Holman Hunt and John Lucas Tupper'', UMI Research Press, 1986, p.133.</ref> but Palgrave was forced to withdraw the catalogue.

[[File:Thomas Woolner, c. 1865.jpg|thumb|Thomas Woolner, c. 1865]]
His largest single commission was a programme of architectural sculptures for the [[Manchester Assize Courts]], built in Manchester from 1859 through 1864. Woolner created a large number of statues depicting lawgivers and rulers which formed part of the building's structure. Most dramatic was a giant sculpture depicting Moses which was placed on the top, above the entrance. There were also allegorical figures of ''Justice'' and ''Mercy''. Inside was a relief sculpture depicting the ''[[Judgement of Solomon]]'', flanked by statues of a ''Drunk Woman'' and a ''Good Woman''. [[Alfred Waterhouse]], the architect, wrote, "we are all delighted with your virtuous woman, and disgusted as we ought to be with the awful example."<ref>Terry Wykes, Harry Cocks, ''Public Sculpture of Greater Manchester'', Liverpool University Press, 2004, p.76.</ref> The building was bombed during [[World War II]]. Some of the sculptures were saved and incorporated into the replacement building.

Woolner made his living mainly from creating statues of famous men, but his most personal and complex works in sculpture were what he called "ideal" groups, notably ''Civilization'' (1867) and ''Virgilia bewailing the absence of Coriolanus'' (1871). These demonstrate his attempt to express the tension between the static stone and the dynamic desires of the figures represented emerging into solidity from it. Woolner also made a large number of relief sculptures for memorials. His reliefs depicting scenes from the ''[[Iliad]]'' were widely reproduced. These were intended to commemorate the classical scholarship of [[William Ewart Gladstone|William Gladstone]].

He was elected to the [[Royal Academy]] in 1875 and served as professor of sculpture from 1877 to 1879.