About this artwork

Despite his aristocratic birth, the Earl of Lauderdale became a fervent supporter of the French Revolution. Following a visit to Paris in 1792, he became the leader of the opposition Whig party in Scotland, and was nicknamed 1Citizen Maitland'. He co­ founded the Society of the Friends of the People in Scotland, a radical, reformist political group that supported democracy. Although he later abandoned his radical convictions, he remained notable for his independent mindedness and for his incisive critique of unfettered capitalist economics. In this bust, Lauderdale's fashionable /Brutus' hairstyle references Roman and Greek sculpture, and was adopted by men who supported the Revolution's principles of democracy and reform.

Updated before 2020

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Thomas Phillips

Thomas Phillips