ABSTRACT
Royal Flaxman’s pedagogy publicly presented the Academy as an institution that endorsed what he termed ‘Grecian theory’, which depended on the apprehension of scientific principles and their application to observations from nature in order to render the idealized sculpted human form, following the approach undertaken by Greek sculptors. Flaxman’s emphasis on a Grecian theory and its scientific principles is the distinguishing feature of his academic pedagogy. Applying such principles to the creation of idealized figures was a fundamental part of Flaxman’s artistic practice and academic pedagogy. Flaxman’s pedagogical focus placed corporeal idealization at the very heart of British art education, just as Reynolds had done. An essential part of Greek corporeal study, according to Flaxman, was a thorough familiarity with human anatomy—interior and exterior. Flaxman’s sculptural pedagogy at the Academy stressed familiarity with exterior and interior corporeal elements. Flaxman’s anatomical drawings reveal that his artistic practice coincided with his pedagogy.
