Bacon, JOHN

Bacon, JOHN, sculptor, was born in London, November 24, 1740, and, trained as a modeller and painter on porcelain, in 1769 he received the first gold medal for sculpture awarded by the Royal Academy, of which next year he was made an associate, in recognition of the high merit of his statue of Mars. Among his principal works are the monuments to Lord Chatham in Westminster Abbey and the Guildhall, to Howard and Johnson in St Paul's, and to Blackstone at All Souls' College, Oxford. Bacon's success aroused great jealousy, and his rivals claimed that he was deficient in imagination, and had no refined perception of beauty; but some of his emblematical figures display perfect classical taste. He died 4th August 1799.