Smyth's studies of Hibernia, Mercury and Fidelity on the pediment of Dublin's GPO

John Smyth (1776 – 1840) was an Irish sculptor.[1][2]

The son of sculptor Edward Smyth (1749–1812),[3] John Smyth was trained at the Dublin Society's school, and worked with his father at Montgomery Street (now Foley Street) in Dublin.[4][5]

One of his first public works was a monument to John Ball in St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin.[6]

He assisted his father, Edward, with a number of sculptures at Parliament House (now Bank of Ireland), the King's Inns, and with decorative plaster and stonework at the Chapel Royal of Dublin Castle.[7] He also sculpted the statues of Mercury, Fidelity, and Hibernia for the pediment of the General Post Office, Dublin (c.1814).[4][8]

He repaired the equestrian statue of William III (William of Orange) in College Green after it was blown up in 1836.[4] Other pieces by John Smyth were sculpted for Dublin's Richmond Bridge (c.1816; now O'Donovan Rossa Bridge),[7] and several public buildings and churches in the capital.[9] In 1818, Smyth was commissioned to produce a bust of Charles Whitworth, 1st Earl Whitworth, then Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, which was displayed at the Society of Artists in 1819 alongside a bust of his wife Arabella by Thomas Kirk. A number of his works are held by the National Gallery of Ireland.[10] Like his own father, several of John Smyth's own children become sculptors,[2] as did his grandchildren.[11]

References

  1. ↑ Larkin, Rita (2014). "Smyth, John". Sculpture 1600–2000. Art and Architecture of Ireland. Vol. III. Yale University Press. pp. 324–325. ISBN 978-0-300-17921-7.
  2. 1 2 "John Smyth – Bio". Dictionary of Irish Architects. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  3. ↑ Lee, Sidney, ed. (1898). "Smyth, Edward". Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 53. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  4. 1 2 3 Walter G. Strickland (1913). A Dictionary of Irish Artists – via Libraryireland.com.
  5. ↑ "The Sculptors – Edward and John Smyth and Their Works". The Dublin Builder. VIII (168): 294. 15 December 1866.
  6. ↑ "St Patrick's Cathedral Dublin". Dictionary of Irish Architects. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  7. 1 2 "Sculptor John Smyth". Bridges of Dublin. Dublin City Council. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  8. ↑ "Irish Architecture Online – General Post Office, O'Connell Street, Dublin". Archiseek. Archived from the original on 1 December 2008.
  9. ↑ "John Smyth – Works". Dictionary of Irish Architects. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  10. ↑ "Online Collection – John Smyth". National Gallery of Ireland. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  11. ↑ "George Smyth – Bio". Dictionary of Irish Architects. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
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