ALISON MCGOVERN MP: Bradlaugh was an important pioneer in our politics.
He was elected four times in succession
to the House of Commons.
But he was unable to take his seat.
He was unable to commence as a Member of Parliament
because he refused to take the Oath of Allegiance,
and the reason why he refused
was because it required Members of Parliament
to swear a religious oath, and he was a person of no faith.
He was successful in 1888
in seeing the passage of the Oaths Act,
which meant that, for the first time,
Members of Parliament who were of no religious faith could swear
and affirm their commitment to the House of Commons.
So it meant that for the first time we had equality
amongst those of religious faith and those who had none.
SUZIE ZAMIT: When I thought about how to portray him,
the biggest factor is the incredible struggle he had.
My starting point is the photos of him, and there's a fair few.
You can just pick up elements.
I've actually got somebody coming around to model for me
who's got a very similar kind of neckline
and kind of jowl area to Bradlaugh.
Thinking about his character, I think it helped me
to just write down a list of words.
I also got the Secular Society to send me
a list of words that embodied his qualities,
and Bryan Niblett, the guy who wrote the book, 'Dare To Stand Alone',
about him.
TERRY SANDERSON: His latest biographer, Bryan Niblett,
has titled his book, 'Dare To Stand Alone',
and it was very appropriate it was called that
because Bradlaugh did stand alone, very much alone,
against very strong forces that raged against him.
SUZIE ZAMIT: He was fined.
He was thrown in prison and this enormous struggle really took
its toll on him, but he was just so determined and courageous.
And they are the qualities that I wanted to bring out in him.
So, I decided to portray him in a standing pose, for a start,
because he was barred from entry into the House, to take his seat.
So, I researched him and read about him
and thought about his qualities, and what I wanted to embody.
And then I looked at the location in Parliament
where it was going to go, and I then came up with the maquette.
That is the first thing to do, which is a small-scale study,
which is...
over here.
So, this is just modelled in clay.
I more or less just, you know, roughed that out in clay.
It's not too detailed,
just so I could get to grips with the shape of his head
and direction of gaze, that sort of thing.
So you use this, but, in the process of enlarging it,
you might want to make some changes.
I wanted to get the feeling of the width of the chest,
rather than do a portrait of just his head,
because that's part of his kind of proportions,
to get this width in here.
It's all just kind of just really soft clay.
You want to keep the clay just completely as soft as possible.
So, it's like putting on thick paint, really.
On the maquette, he is slightly...
He's going to be around seven foot high,
but he just seemed to be a little bit too downcast,
and, because he's so strong and defiant, I ended up,
when I was doing the life-size one, just making it
slightly more upright and prouder.
And it's all soft, so I actually had my husband hugging him
around the shoulders, and you can just do a bit of...
You know, it's quite easy...
It changes the character of the piece so much.
ALISON MCGOVERN: Suzie will be only the fourth woman sculptor
represented in Parliament's art collection,
and there are shed loads of male artists represented,
and I don't think that anyone would believe
that women's contribution to our country's artistic life
could be so minimal, so it's incredibly important that we address
that balance, and the beautiful work that Suzie has created
is a really important step in that direction.
SUZIE ZAMIT: It becomes quite obvious, as you sort of get working,
you realise the character, the location.
It all just sort of comes in together.
I'm nearly there, but it's still very soft clay,
and it's an armature wire.
I'm having another look at the location tomorrow, in fact.
So, I will just double-check exactly the direction of the gaze,
because that is the...
His eyes are the key to the whole portrait. 89 00:05:13,280 --> 00:05:12,520