Peter Scheemakers II (1691 - 1781)

Peter Scheemakers II

Peter Scheemakers the Younger was a Flemish sculptor considered the founder of modern sculpture in England.

He trained under his sculptor father in Antwerp, and came to England around 1721 and created tombstones and garden sculpture in a restrained classical style. In 1728 Scheemakers traveled to Rome to study sculpture and, returning to London in 1730, earned a reputation as one of the outstanding sculptors of his day.

In 1741 he executed his most famous work, a monument to William Shakespeare in Westminster Abbey.