Macdonald was born on 15 February 1799 at
Findo Gask in
Perthshire,
Scotland to Margaret Morison, a nurse, and Alexander Macdonald, a
violinist. He was apprenticed as a
stonemason with Thomas Gibson, who was then building the
Murray Royal Asylum, outside
Perth. Around this time he was also commissioned by Robert Graeme, the
laird of Garvock to carve a coat of arms on the front of Garvock House. Macdonald then travelled to Edinburgh with a letter of introduction from Graeme to the architect
James Gillespie Graham. On 26 February 1822 he entered the Trustees' Academy, Edinburgh. During this time he also worked as a decoratorative carver for Gillespie Graham. In late 1822 he travelled to France with the
Oliphant family of Gask. He then went to
Rome where he set up a workshop and remained for the next three years. While there he executed several busts, among others that of the
John Murray, 4th Duke of Atholl. In 1823, along with Gibson, Severn, and other artists, he founded the
British Academy of Arts in Rome, of which he continued as a trustee until his death. He returned to Edinburgh in 1826 and exhibited work at the
Institution for the Encouragement of the Fine Arts. He also produced busts of Professor John Wilson and
George Combe, the
phrenologist and founder of the
Edinburgh Phrenological Society, for which MacDonald produced work. In 1829, he sent his bust of
John Marshall, MP, to the
Royal Academy, and he was a frequent contributor to the succeeding exhibitions. In the autumn of 1829, he exhibited in the
Royal Institution, Edinburgh, his colossal group of 'Ajax bearing the dead body of Patroclus and combating 'an warrior' and other works; and he was second to his friend
Charles Maclaren, editor of
The Scotsman in his bloodless duel with Dr.
James Browne, editor of the
Caledonian Mercury, fought near Edinburgh in November 1829, which arose partly out of an article in the
Mercury (6 November) on Macdonald's works and the ''Scotsman's'' criticisms upon them. In the same year he was elected a member of the
Scottish Academy, where in 1832, he exhibited several busts, including those of
John Gibson Lockhart and the
Earl of Erroll; but he seldom contributed here, and resigned his membership in 1858. He appeared in the list of honorary members in 1867. At this time he is shown as living at 10 Cumberland Street in
Edinburgh's Second New Town. In 1832 he returned to Rome, where he occupied a leading position as a sculptor, chiefly producing portrait busts, aided by his elder brother, John, and his son, Alexander. His bust of
Philip Stanhope, 5th Earl Stanhope, is now at
Chevening,
Kent, and a copy is in the
National Portrait Gallery, London. He also executed busts of
Walter Scott (1831),
Fanny Kemble, and
Sir David Baird. and
James Gillespie Graham. Among his ideal works are 'A Girl and a Carrier Pigeon,’ (1835), and 'Eurydice,’ (1849). His 'Ulysses recognised by his dog,’ shown in the Paris Exhibition of 1855, was much admired, and became the property of
Lord Kilmorey. He died in Rome on 4 March 1878. Several sculptors trained under him, including
William Brodie. ==Principal works==