’The Last Judgement’ by John Weston of Exeter

John Weston was a gifted Exeter sculptor who worked, probably in Cathedral Close, in the years c. 1715-35.

Regarding Weston, Rupert Gunnis, the authority on English sculpture and author of the Dictionary of British Sculpture, wrote as follows: 'Weston was one of the most remarkable of the provincial statuaries. All his monuments are important and have an extraordinary range, both in style and execution. Most of them are well up to the best provincial standards of the early eighteenth century, but four equal, if they do not surpass, the finest contemporary London productions. The monuments in question are distinguished by having on the base the most remarkable relief of the Last Judgement, in which the figures have all the grace and movement of the Italian Renaissance, while the design anticipates the work of William Blake.'

Carved in white marble, the oval is one of the four examples of Weston's Last Judgement scenes. It shows an upper register of the Blessed being carried heavenward by angels, with a lower register of those awaiting judgement and those already condemned, with the mouth of hell to the right.

Acknowledgments: RAM Museum