# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/MacDowell, Patrick

​MACDOWELL, PATRICK (1799–1870), sculptor, was born in Belfast on 12 Aug. 1799. His father, a tradesman, died in his infancy, and left him and his mother with very limited means. From 1807 to 1811 he boarded at a school in Belfast, kept by an engraver named Gordon, who encouraged his attempts at drawing, and from 1811 to 1813 he was under the tuition of a clergyman in Hampshire. In 1813 he was apprenticed to a coachbuilder in London, but after four years and a half his master became a bankrupt, and his indentures were cancelled. He then went to lodge in the house of Pierre Francois Chenu, a French sculptor and modeller, and while there he endeavoured to sketch from plaster casts, and to acquire a knowledge of modelling. On leaving Chenu's he applied himself assiduously to drawing and modelling, and at length attempted a small figure of 'Venus holding a Mirror,' after Donatello, in which he succeeded so well that it was purchased by Chenu. He next sent a model in competition for a monument to Major Cartwright; but although his design was selected, it was not carried out by himself, owing to the insufficiency of the amount subscribed. He, however, allowed it to be executed by another sculptor, who was ruined by the commission. In 1822 he sent a bust to the Royal Academy, and was also an exhibitor from 1826 to 1829. In 1830 he was admitted into the Academy Schools, but continued to model and work on busts. The first group of poetic sculpture which he attempted was from Moore's 'Loves of the Angels;' it was purchased by Mr. George Davison of Belfast. This was followed by a group from Ovid of 'Cephalus and Procris,' executed in marble for E. S. Cooper, M.P. for Sligo, and afterwards by a life-size group of 'Bacchus and a Satyr.' In 1837 he exhibited the model of a 'Girl Reading,' which attracted the favourable notice of Sir Francis Chantrey, and was executed in marble for Mr. T. W. Beaumont, M.P. for Northumberland, and also for Lord Francis Egerton, afterwards, earl of Ellesmere.
MacDowell was elected an associate of the Royal Academy in 1841, and soon afterwards went to Italy for eight months at the expense of Mr. Beaumont, for whom he executed, also in marble, a 'Girl going to the Bath,' exhibited in 1841; a 'Girl at Prayer,' in 1842; 'Love Triumphant,' his first large group, and 'Cupid,' in 1845; and 'Early Sorrow,' in 1850. He became a Royal Academician in 1846, and presented as his diploma work a 'Nymph,' In 1846, also, he executed a statue of Viscount Exmouth for Greenwich Hospital, and in 1850 he exhibited the model for the bronze statue of William, earl of Warren, for the houses of parliament. He executed also marble statues of William Pitt and of the Earl of Chatham for St. Stephen's Hall. . His subsequent works included 'Cupid and Psyche,' a basso-relievo, in 1849; 'Virginius and his Daughter,' 1850; 'The Slumbering Student,' 1861; 'Love in Idleness,' the model, in 1852; 'The First Thorn in Life,' a commission from Mr. Thomas Baring; 'The Earl of Belfast,' a model for a bronze statue for the city of Belfast, 1856; 'Viscount Fitzgibbon,' a model for a bronze statue for the city of Limerick, and 'The Day Dream,' 1858; 'Eve,' 1865; 'The Children of John Pender,' 1866; and 'The Young Mother,' 1867; after which he exhibited nothing but busts. His last and ffreatest work, completed shortly before his death, was the fine group typical of 'Europe' for the Albert Memorial in Hyde Park. It represents 'Europa' seated on a bull, and surrounded by standing figures emblematical of England, France, Italy, and Germany. It was engraved by W. Roffe for the 'Art Journal' of 1871, and by W. Holl for 'The National Memorial to H.R.H. the Prince Consort,' London, 1873.
MacDowell died in London on 9 Dec. 1870, having just before retired into the ​honorary rank of Royal Academicians. His works are graceful and elegant in design, and masterly in execution.
[Art Journal, 1850, p. 8, autobiographical letter, with portrait, and 1871, p. 41; Athenæum, 1870, ii. 847; Sandby's History of the Royal Academy of Arts, 1862, ii. 195–7; Royal Academy Exhibition Catalogues, 1822-70.]
R. E. G.