Today, July 6th, is the birthday of British sculptor John Flaxman (July 6, 1755 – December 7, 1826).
Today, July 6th, is the birthday of British sculptor John Flaxman (July 6, 1755 – December 7, 1826). At the end of the eighteenth century, Flaxman initiated a new tradition in funerary sculpture by portraying the human soul as a full-bodied adult. This idea, which subsequently became common in European cemeteries, was derived directly from the theological writings of Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772). Flaxman accepted Swedenborg’s concept that the body, as the garment of the soul, mirrors its shape. As such, the form of a person’s soul, both while living on earth and after going to heaven, is entirely human. “Deliver Us from Evil” shows a male figure struggling upwards, with four spirits—two good and two evil—fighting for his soul. Flaxman here depicts the crucial moment of choice between good and evil, experienced by all humans. Flaxman made this plaster study of “Deliver Us from Evil” for a marble relief in the parish church in Micheldever, England (c. 1805-1813). -- source link
#john flaxman#sculpture#emanuel swedenborg#glencairn museum