Sir Thomas Brock, A.R.A. (1847-1922)

Executed as a token of his esteem for Leighton, Brock's full-size plaster bust of the artist, then President of the Royal Academy, was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1881 (no. 1559). Ten years later, on the occasion of his own election to full membership of the Academy, Brock modelled a second portrait bust of Leighton, more romantic in style and subsequently exhibited in 1893 (no. 1717). A close association between Brock and Leighton had existed since 1877, when Leighton's celebrated work, An Athlete wrestling with a Python, was modelled and cast in bronze in Brock's studio. Later, Brock would be responsible for the magnificent monument to Leighton in St. Paul's Cathedral (1897-1902).