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Secondary sourceSculpture2023-05-02

Royal Academy - Adam Smith

Colin Smith · 2023-05-02

A photograph of a stone statue of Adam Smith set in a niche on a building facade.

A statue honouring Adam Smith, depicting him as a scholar holding a book.

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Stone statue of a man in a niche on a building facade. He wears a long cloak over a buttoned coat, with curled hair, holds a book in one hand, and stands on a plinth inscribed ADAM SMITH.
Statue of Adam Smith, Royal Academy building facade. Photographed 2023.

About this source

What it is

This is a photograph of a stone statue depicting Adam Smith, set into a niche on a building facade. The figure wears a long cloak over a buttoned coat, holds a book, and stands on a plinth inscribed with his name.

Why it matters

Statues like this one show how later generations chose to honour Adam Smith as a thinker, often depicting him with a book to emphasise his role as a scholar and writer. The record gives little detail about when or why this particular statue was made, which is itself worth noticing.

Look closer

  • Why might a sculptor choose to show Smith holding a book rather than any other object?
  • What does placing a statue in a niche on a building suggest about how a society values a person?
  • What information about this statue's creation is missing from the record, and why might that matter?

This sculpture is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Adam Smith on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

More Adam Smith sources

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Title page of An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, by Adam Smith, LL.D. and F.R.S., formerly Professor of Moral Philosophy in the University of Glasgow. In two volumes, Vol. I. London, printed for W. Strahan and T. Cadell, in the Strand, MDCCLXXVI.Book

Primary source

The Wealth of Nations

Adam Smith · 1776

Scan of the title page of the 1759 first edition of The Theory of Moral Sentiments by Adam Smith, Professor of Moral Philosophy in the University of Glasgow. Centered ornament below. Imprint reads London: Printed for A. Millar, in the Strand, and A. Kincaid and J. Bell, in Edinburgh, MDCCLIX.Book

Primary source

The Theory of Moral Sentiments

Adam Smith · 1759

Black and white engraving of a standing man in profile wearing a tricorn hat, powdered wig, and long buttoned coat, holding a cane, beside a round table with books and an inkstand. Bookshelves and a checkered floor are behind him. Caption below reads 'The Author of the Wealth of Nations'. Signed 'RAY' and dated 1790 at lower left.Painting

Primary source

Adam Smith, 1790

John Kay · 1790

Oil painting of a man in a powdered white wig and dark high-collared coat with blue-tinged shading, turned to the left, against a dark brown background. He has a slight closed-mouth expression.Painting

Secondary source

The Muir Portrait of Adam Smith

Unknown · c. 1790

Evening photo of Panmure House, a stone building with lit windows and a glass-fronted entrance at street level, with a sign reading Adam Smith's Panmure House. Dusk sky, paved street in foreground.Artifact

Primary source

Panmure House

1691-1693 (built); Smith resided 1778-1790

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