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Description: | At Above medallion: "Labor Et Ingenium". Beneath image: "G.B. Cipriani inv.t et del.t; F. Bartolozzi Engraver to his Majesty sculp.t". Inscription in pen and brown ink:
"George" "George The Third, By The Grace of God, King Of Great-Britain, France And Ireland, Defender Of The Faith, &c. To Our Trusty And Well-Beloved Will. Hunter Doctor Of Physick, Greeting.
Whereas We Have Thought Fit To Establish In This Our City Of London, A Society For The Purposes Of Cultivating And Improving The Arts Of Painting, Sculpture And Architecture, Under The Name And Title Of "Royal Academy Of Arts", And Under Our Own Immediate Patronage And Protection: Having Committed The Sole Management And Direction Of The Said Society Unto Forty Academicians Appointed By Us, From Amongst The Ablest And Most Respectable Artists Resident In Great Britain, And Seeing That No Liberal Art Can Attain Perfection Without The Concurrence And Cooperation Of Other Sciences, We Have Resolved To Appoint Certain Professors To Instruct The Students In Various Branches Of Knowledge Necessary To The Arts. We, Therefore, In Consideration Of Your Great Skill In Anatomy, Do, By These Presents, Nominate And Appoint You Professor Of Anatomy In Our Said Academy Of Arts, Hereby Granting Unto You All Such Honors, Privileges, And Emoluments Thereof, As Are Consistent With The Nature Of The Establishment, And Compatible With The Instrument Of Institution, And With The Laws And Regulations By Which The Said Society Is Governed.
In Consequence Of This Our Gracious Resolution, It Is Our pleasure, That Your Name And Appointment, Be Forthwith Inserted In The Books Of The Academy, Which The Secretary Is Hereby Directed To Do. Given At Our Royal Palace At Saint Iames's, The Fifteenth Day Of December, In The Ninth Year Of Our Reign." CRE BARTOLOZZI, Francesco; (Italian; 1725-1815) AFTER CIPRIANI, Giovanni Battista; (Italian; 1726-1785) CRE UNKNOWN CALLIGRAPHER; (English; 18th century) This is the document, signed by King George III, which the original Royal Academicians received on their appointment: their diploma. When Chambers and a group of artists broke away from the Incorporated Society of Artists to form the Royal Academy in 1768, the obvious choice for election as Professor of Anatomy was Hunter, who had provided anatomical lectures to the artists for many years at the St Martin's Lane Academy. The diploma was commissioned early on in the course of the Academy's foundation. The Scrapbooks preserved in the Royal Academy Library show that various artists submitted designs (RAA/SEC/1/19-22). Giovanni Battista Cipriani's design was chosen, and it was engraved by Francesco Bartolozzi who was paid in February 1770 for engraving three plates.
Within a fictive medallion, which is supported by Hercules and Genius (representing Strength and Inspiration), Cipriani's design shows a painter, sculptor and an architect at work between figures representing Minerva (with the lion) and The Royal Academy. The figure of Hercules resembles that in Bartolozzi's 1768 engraving after a painting by Annibale Carracci in the Royal Collection, his Virgin, Sleeping Child and St John the Baptist (known as Il Silenzio).
Hunter's diploma is unique in having its inscription, signed by the King, written out by hand. Clearly his diploma was different from that presented to the artists, for his position of Professor of Anatomy meant that he was not elected from among the Council of the RAs. Those elected to the professorships of Painting, Architecture, Perspective were RAs and therefore already had their diplomas. Although Hunter's diploma is dated 15 December 1768, it was not signed by the King until 1771 as we know from Reynolds's letter which accompanied the signed document (Brock, Correspondence, 215).
Bartolozzi produced three plates: one for the headpiece, and then two with differently worded inscriptions, one for the Academicians and, subsequently, another for the appointment of Associates. Like other surviving examples, Hunter's is assembled from two plates - one for the headpiece, and another for the inscription - glued together horizontally across the centre. The Scrapbooks record some of the expenses occurred in making the diplomas, including receipts from Bartolozzi for engraving the plates (RA/SEC/I/48) dated 1 and 26 February 1770. The original draft for the text of Hunter's diploma, in the hand of the Secretary Francis Milner Newton, is also preserved (RA/SEC/I/34). The draft 29 lines, with line-breaks marked, which was reduced by the calligrapher to 24 lines in the completed Diploma. After Hunter's death, this text was copied for the diploma of his successor as Professor of Anatomy, John Sheldon (1752-1808). | License: | http://www.hmag.gla.ac.uk/spirit/rights/ | Publisher: | Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery, University of Glasgow | Rights holder: | Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery, University of Glasgow | Subjects: | ROYAL ACADEMY OF ARTS : CERTIFICATE : PROFESSOR OF ANATOMY : KING GEORGE III : SIGNATURE OF MONARCH : ALLEGORY OF THE ARTS : HUNTER 2007 : | Source: | Hunterian Museum | Creator: | Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery, University of Glasgow | Identifier: | http://www.huntsearch.gla.ac.uk/cgi-bin/... | Language: | en-GB | Go to resource |
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