Richard James Wyatt

Richard James Wyatt was a highly successful British Neoclassical sculptor who trained in Rome in the workshops of Antonio Canova and Bertel Thorvaldsen. Two of his most important commissions were a marble version of his Musidora, for William Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire's new Sculpture Gallery at Chatsworth House (in situ,) and a marble statue of Penelope for Albert, the Prince Consort, for Windsor Castle (in situ.)

He made several iterations of the current composition, all of which depict a goddess or nymph scantily clad, entering or exiting the bath. The present marble exhibits the virtuoso carving, which became the hallmark of Wyatt's artistic maturity.