# Francis Bird

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{{Short description|English sculptor (1667-1731)}}
{{about|the sculptor|the architect in Western Australia|Francis Bird (architect)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox artist
| image         = Francis Bird miniature.png
| caption       = Francis Bird, miniature, oil on copper
| birth_date    = 1667
| birth_place   = London
| death_date    = 1731
| death_place   = London
| spouse        = Hester Bird
| field         = Sculpture
| training      = Flanders under Cozins, Rome under Le Gros, England under Gibbons and Cibber 
| works         = The Conversion of St Paul, Queen Anne,  St Paul's Cathedral, London
| influenced by = 
}}

'''Francis Bird''' (1667–1731) was one of the leading English [sculptor](/source/sculptor)s of his time. He is mainly remembered for sculptures in [Westminster Abbey](/source/Westminster_Abbey) and [St Paul's Cathedral](/source/St_Paul's_Cathedral). He carved a tomb for the dramatist [William Congreve](/source/William_Congreve) in Westminster Abbey and sculptures of the [apostles](/source/Twelve_apostles) and [evangelists](/source/Four_Evangelists) on the exterior of St Paul's, a memorial to [William Hewer](/source/William_Hewer) in the interior of [St Paul's Church, Clapham](/source/St_Paul's_Church%2C_Clapham) as well as the statue of [Henry VI](/source/Henry_VI_of_England) in School Yard, [Eton College](/source/Eton_College). Despite his success, later in life Bird did little sculpting. He had inherited money from his father-in-law and set up a [marble](/source/marble) import business.

==Life==
He was born in the St James's Parish in [Westminster](/source/Westminster) in what is now central [London](/source/London) in 1667.

At about eleven years old he was sent to [Flanders](/source/Flanders) where he studied under the sculptors Jan and Henri Cosyns. He then went on his first trip to [Rome](/source/Rome) to study further, under Le Gros. He returned to London around 1689. He had been so long abroad he found he could hardly speak English. In London he worked under [Grinling Gibbons](/source/Grinling_Gibbons) and [Caius Gabriel Cibber](/source/Caius_Gabriel_Cibber). After a few years, he went back to Rome for a further nine months<ref>[Rupert Gunnis](/source/Rupert_Gunnis), ''[Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660–1851](/source/Dictionary_of_British_Sculptors_1660%E2%80%931851)''</ref> where he is documented as an assistant to [Pierre Le Gros the Younger](/source/Pierre_Le_Gros_the_Younger) in 1697.<ref>{{citation | isbn = 0-9529925-0-7 | title = Pierre le Gros, 1666-1719 | last1 = Bissell | first1 = Gerhard | year = 1997 | page=12 }} (in German)</ref>

==St Paul’s Cathedral, London==
Bird is best known for his work at St Paul's Cathedral. In March 1706 he was paid £329 for the panel over the west door and in December of that year £650 for carving the "Conversion of St Paul", 64' long and 17' high for the great pediment. This contained "eight large figures” six whereof on horseback and several of them "two and a half feet imbost". In 1711 he carved the statue of Queen Anne with four other figures, which was erected in St Paul's Cathedral yard in 1712.  This statue was saved from demolition in December 1886 when it was replaced by the present statue executed by Richard Belt. The original Queen Anne statue is now in [St Leonards-on-Sea](/source/St_Leonards-on-Sea) in the grounds of [Holmhurst St Mary](/source/Holmhurst_St_Mary).<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1192060|desc=Statue of Queen Anne south east of Holmhurst St Mary's School|access-date=27 January 2023|grade=II*}}</ref> Between 1712 and 1713 he executed the two panels over the west portico for £339, but it was not until 1721 that he carved the statues of various apostles and evangelists (each nearly {{convert|12|ft|m|abbr=on}}. high) for the west front and south side of the Cathedral. For these he received a total sum of £2,040.<ref>Gunnis Dictionary of Sculpture in Britain, quoted text Wren Society, Vol. XIV</ref>

==Other known works==
*Memorial to Hugh Darrell (1690) in [West Wycombe](/source/West_Wycombe)
*Memorial (with bust) to [Thomas Shadwell](/source/Thomas_Shadwell) (1692) in [Westminster Abbey](/source/Westminster_Abbey)
*Memorial to [Richard Busby](/source/Richard_Busby) (1695) in [Westminster Abbey](/source/Westminster_Abbey)
*Memorial to Mrs Fitzherbert (1699) in [Tissington](/source/Tissington)
*Memorial to the [Duke of Bedford](/source/Duke_of_Bedford) (1701) in [Chenies](/source/Chenies)
*Memorial to Jane daughter of [Christopher Wren](/source/Christopher_Wren) (1701) in [St Paul's Cathedral](/source/St_Paul's_Cathedral)
*Statue of [Henry VIII](/source/Henry_VIII) (1703) At St Bartholonew's Gate, [Smithfield, London](/source/Smithfield%2C_London)
*Memorial to the [Earl of Huntingdon](/source/Earl_of_Huntingdon) (1704) in St James' Church in [Piccadilly](/source/Piccadilly)
*Memorial to Sir [Orlando Gee](/source/Orlando_Gee) (1705) at [Isleworth](/source/Isleworth)
*Monument to Mrs Eyre (1705) in [Salisbury Cathedral](/source/Salisbury_Cathedral)
*Statue of Queen Anne (1706) at [Kingston-upon-Thames](/source/Kingston-upon-Thames)
*Memorial to [Robert Killigrew](/source/Robert_Killigrew) (1707) in [Westminster Abbey](/source/Westminster_Abbey)
*Monument to [Rev John Cawley](/source/John_Cawley_(priest)) (1709) at [Henley-on-Thames](/source/Henley-on-Thames)
*Monument to Mrs Benson (1710) in St Leonard's Church in [Shoreditch](/source/Shoreditch)
*Memorial to the [Duke of Newcastle](/source/Duke_of_Newcastle) (1711) in [Westminster Abbey](/source/Westminster_Abbey)
*Memorial to [John Ernest Grabe](/source/John_Ernest_Grabe) (1711) in [Westminster Abbey](/source/Westminster_Abbey)
*Statue of Queen Anne (1712) at [St Paul's Cathedral](/source/St_Paul's_Cathedral)
*Memorial to [Admiral Henry Priestman](/source/Henry_Priestman_(Royal_Navy_officer)) (1712) in [Westminster Abbey](/source/Westminster_Abbey)
*Memorial to the [Earl of Godolphin](/source/Earl_of_Godolphin) (1712) in [Westminster Abbey](/source/Westminster_Abbey)
*Memorial to [Thomas Sprat](/source/Thomas_Sprat), [Bishop of Rochester](/source/Bishop_of_Rochester) (1713) in [Westminster Abbey](/source/Westminster_Abbey)
*Memorial to [John Sharp](/source/John_Sharp_(bishop)), [Archbishop of York](/source/Archbishop_of_York) (1714) in [York Minster](/source/York_Minster)
*Memorial to Anthony Wingfield (1714) at [Stonham Aspal](/source/Stonham_Aspal) in [Suffolk](/source/Suffolk)
*Memorial to [Admiral John Baker](/source/John_Baker_(Royal_Navy_officer)) (1716) in [Westminster Abbey](/source/Westminster_Abbey)
*Statue of [John Radcliffe](/source/John_Radcliffe_(physician)) (1717) at [University College, Oxford](/source/University_College%2C_Oxford)
*Statue of [Henry VI](/source/Henry_VI_of_England) (1719) at [Eton College](/source/Eton_College)
*Statue of [Cardinal Wolsey](/source/Cardinal_Wolsey) (1719) at [Christ Church, Oxford](/source/Christ_Church%2C_Oxford)
*Statue of Queen Mary (1720) at [University College, Oxford](/source/University_College%2C_Oxford)
*Statue of [Lord Clarendon](/source/Lord_Clarendon) (1721) in the [Clarendon Building](/source/Clarendon_Building) in [Oxford](/source/Oxford)
*Statuary group (1721) in the [Clarendon Building](/source/Clarendon_Building) in [Oxford](/source/Oxford)
*Monument to the [Cavendish family](/source/Bolsover_Castle) (1728) at [Bolsover](/source/Bolsover)
*Memorial to [William Congreve](/source/William_Congreve) (1729) in [Westminster Abbey](/source/Westminster_Abbey)

==Gallery==

<gallery>
File:Francis Bird The Conversion of St Paul, 1706. London, St Paul's Cathedral.png|The Conversion of St Paul, 1706, St Paul's Cathedral, London
File:Francis Bird Font, 1727. St Paul's Cathedral, London.jpg|Font, 1727. St Paul's Cathedral, London
File:Queen Anne by Francis Bird, reproduction of original erected 1712, St Paul's Cathedral, London..jpg|Queen Anne, reproduction of original erected 1712, St Paul's Cathedral, London.
File:Queen Anne, Queen Anne's Square.jpg|Queen Anne, erected 1708 latest, Queen Anne's Gate, Westminster, London
File:Francis Bird Monument to Dr Ernest Grabe, d. 1711. Westminster Abbey, London..jpg|Dr Ernest Grabe, d. 1711. Westminster Abbey, London
</gallery>

==Notes==
{{Commons category|Francis Bird}}
<references/>
<!-- Unsourced image removed: thumb|Sculpture of the Earl of Clarendon by Francis Bird, The Clarendon Building, Oxford -->

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bird, Francis}}
Category:1667 births
Category:1731 deaths
Category:18th-century English sculptors
Category:18th-century English male artists
Category:English male sculptors
Category:People educated at The Oratory School
Category:Sculptors from London

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Francis Bird](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Bird) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Bird?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.