John Flaxman was born on July 6, 1755 in York, where his parents lived for a brief period of time. His name John was hereditary in the family; like his father, he was named after an ancestor who fought in the Parliamentary army and distinguished himself at the Battle of Naseby (1645). His mother died when he was 10 and his father remarried with a woman who proved a loving stepmother for John.
John Flaxman senior was a famous moulder and seller of plaster casts. The young John spent most of his childhood at his father’s shop where he met some of the leading artists of his time, for instance Mrs. Harriet Mathew, the wife of the Reverend Anthony Stephen Mathew and a friend of Elizabeth Montagu, the prominent Bluestocking. Mrs. Mathew was also a London socialite and patron of arts and later
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Citation: Volpone, Annalisa. "John Flaxman". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 22 February 2013 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=1557, accessed 27 November 2024.]
