Details of Sculptor

Surname

Panormo

Alternative Surname

First Name

Constantine ARHA

Initial of Surname

P

Year of Birth/Baptism

c1805

Flourished

Year of Death

1852

Biographical Details

Panormo was born in London, the son of Francis Panormo, a professor of music from Dublin. He studied at the Royal Dublin Society’s schools and distinguished himself by gaining numerous prizes. In 1824 William Behnes, who had himself been a pupil at the school, offered to take two boys and instruct them for two years at £60 a year each. The RDS accepted the offer and sent over Panormo and John Gallagher. As Behnes’s pupil, Panormo attended the Royal Academy Schools, gaining silver medals in 1825 and 1826 (RA Premium list). In 1825, while living at 91 Dean Street, Soho, he also received a medal from the Society of Arts (1). He then spent a time in Rome at the expense of the RDS, returning to London in 1833. He exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1833 and 1834, giving his address as 4 Tottenham Court Road (10-13, 24).
By 1837 Panormo was living in Dublin, where he was appointed master of the RDS modelling school in June 1840. He exhibited at the Royal Hibernian Academy, 1837-49, and was elected an associate member in 1842. In the same year the Royal Irish Art Union awarded him a prize of £5 for his model, The rescue, describing it as ‘one of the most classically conceived and ably executed groups for some time exhibited in this country’ (Strickland II, 1913, 216) (6). They subsequently purchased a marble version and awarded it as a prize to one of their subscribers. In 1844 the sculptor sent a group of the Liberation of Caractacus (7) to the Westminster Hall exhibition which elicited an acid response from the Literary Gazette’s correspondent, who wrote ‘And one group, not in the catalogue, The Liberation of Caractacus; and glad we were to be liberated from the sight of it’ (Lit Gaz 1844, 483). He later completed a statue of George IV for the RDS, started by William Behnes but not finished due to financial difficulties (8). He died at his house in Queen’s Square, Dublin, on 15 May 1852.
Literary References: RSA Transactions, 1825, vol 43, xlvii; New Monthly Mag, vol 18 (1826), 11; Strickland II, 1913, 215-7; Gunnis 1968, 288-9