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Kensington Gardens (W2)

The Albert Memorial

Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Schloss Rosenau, Coburg, 1819 - Windsor Castle 1861
husband of Queen Victoria
(Wikipedia)

Various sculptors
1872-75

Description

Colossal bronze gilt statue, enshrined in a Gothic canopy, with spire rising to 53 meter, supported by four clustered piers of granite. There are four projecting pedestals supporting marble groups representing the four Industries. Around the base is a frieze with 189 composers, architects, poets, painters, and sculptors, the so-called Frieze of Parnassus (actually, only 187 different persons Michelangelo and Rhoecus appear both twice). The whole is on a spacious platform approached by flights of granite steps. At the corners of the steps are pedestals bearing allegorical marble figures of the continents.

The architect of the monument is Sir Gilbert Scott. The memorial was opened to the public in 1872, the statue of Albert was only installed in 1875.

Sculptors:

Armstead: B4 (nos. 2,3,6,7), D1; He was in overall charge of designing the statuary of the memorial.
Bell: E.4.
Foley: A, E.2.
Lawlor: C.4.
MacDowell: E.1.
Marshall: C.1.
Philip: B1, B4 (nos. 1,4,5,8), D2.
Redfern: B2.
Theed: E.3.
Thornycroft: C.3.
Weekes: C.2.

Mosaics designed by Clayton and Bell and executed by Salviati.

A. Statue of Albert

London - The Albert Memorial

Sculpted by John Henry Foley, completed by Thomas Brock; cast in bronze by Henry Prince and Company, of Southwark, 1875
Signed: j.h. foley, r.a. Sculp.^r london

Bronze gilt statue of Prince Albert, seated, holding the catalogue of the Great Exhibition, and robed as a Knight of the Garter. He is shown looking south, towards the Royal Albert Hall. The statue is enshrined in a Gothic canopy

B. Canopy

B1. Angels and Cross

London - The Albert Memorial

Sculpted by John Birnie Philip
Towards the top of tower, are eight gilded angels in two tiers. The upper angels raising their arms heavenwards, the lower tier shows angels with their arms outspread. At the very top of the tower is a gold cross

B2. Virtues

London - The Albert Memorial

Sculpted by James Redfern
Near the top of the canopy's tower are eight statues of the moral and Christian virtues. On the corners are the four cardinal virtues Fortitude, Prudence, Justice and Temperance; and in the faces the three theological virtues Faith, Hope, Charity, with Humility as the fourth, considered to be annexed to the virtue of temperance.

London - The Albert Memorial
Justice, Hope and Fortitude
Fortitude, Charity and Prudence

Prudence, Humility, and Temperance
Temperance, Faith, and Justice

B3. Mosaics

Designed by John Clayton, of the Victorian firm of Clayton and Bell; and manufactured by the firm of Salviati from Murano, Venice.

The memorial's canopy features several mosaics as external and internal decorative artworks. Each of the four external mosaics show a central allegorical figure of the four arts, supported by two historical figures either side:

POESIS - Poetry, with david and homer (the latter is also depicted in the Frieze of Parnassus, D, no. 19). Poesis carries a little scroll which lists Shakespeare, Molière, Milton, Goethe, and, oddly, Homer again.
PICTURA - Painting, with apelles and raphael (the latter is also depicted in the Frieze of Parnassus, D, no. 59).
ARCHITECTURA - Architecture, with solomon and ictinus (the latter is also depicted in the Frieze of Parnassus, D2, no. 35). Architecture holds a design of the Albert Memorial itself.
SCULPTURA - Sculpture, with phidias and m.angelo (Michelangelo) (both are also depicted in the Frieze of Parnassus, Phidias, no. 131, and Michelangelo even twice, 60 and 146).

London - The Albert Memorial
POESIS
PICTURA

ARCHITECTURA
SCULPTURA

Around the canopy, below its cornice, is a dedicatory legend split into four parts, one for each side. The legend reads:

QUEEN VICTORIA AND HER PEOPLE
TO THE MEMORY OF ALBERT PRINCE CONSORT
AS A TRIBUTE OF THEIR GRATITUDE
FOR A LIFE DEVOTED TO THE PUBLIC GOOD.

B4. Practical arts and sciences

Sculpted by Henry Hugh Armstead (2,3,6,7) and John Birnie Philip (1,4,5,8)

The pillars and niches of the canopy feature eight statues representing the practical arts and sciences:

On the four pillars:

London - The Albert Memorial
1. GEOMETRY
2. ASTRONOMY
3. CHEMISTRY
4. GEOLOGY

In the four niches:

London - The Albert Memorial
5. PHYSIOLOGY
6. RHETORIC
7. MEDICINE
8. PHILOSOPHY

C. Industries

At the corners of the base, on projecting pedestals in de Frieze of Parnassus, are four groups depicting Victorian industrial arts and sciences. Each is based on a central standing allegorical statue of a girl with three accompanying figures.

(SW corner) AGRICULTURE, a Classical group of shepherd with sheep, muscular labourer with modern tools, and a seated girl with sheaf of corn, with the central figure making a benedictory gesture.
Sculpted by William Calder Marshall
Signed: w. calder marshall. r.a. Sc.
(SE corner)MANUFACTURES, including a Herculaean figure with anvil opposed to a charmingly draped girl seated on two bales.
Sculpted by Henry Weekes
(NE corner) COMMERCE, the central figure holds a rather modest cornucopia, and is closely surrounded by three merchants with their wares.
Sculpted by Thomas Thornycroft
Signed: t. thornycroft Sc.
(NW corner) ENGINEERING, a variety of mechanical devices, but while one figure of a miner has modern clothing and boots, the others are draped in classical garb.
Sculpted by John Lawlor

AGRICULTURE
MANUFACTURES

COMMERCE
ENGINEERING

D. Frieze of Parnassus

The central part of the memorial is surrounded by the elaborate sculptural Frieze of Parnassus (named after Mount Parnassus, the favorite resting place for the Greek muses), which depicts 169 life-size full-length sculptures, a mixture of low-relief and high-relief, of individual composers, architects, poets, painters, and sculptors. Musicians and poets were placed on the south side, with painters on the east side, sculptors on the west side, and architects on the north side.

The total length of the frieze is approximately 64 meter.

D1. South and east side: Painters, musicians and poets

by Henry Hugh Armstead
Signed: h.h. armstead sculpt. (front of SE and NE corner pedestals)

80 painters, musicians and poets, grouped by national schools.

South

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South side of SW corner pedestal:

Musicians

auber: Daniel Auber (1782-1871), French composer (Wikipedia).
mehul: Étienne Méhul (1763-1817), French composer (Wikipedia).
rameau: Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764), French composer and music theorist (Wikipedia).
lulli: Giovanni Battista Lulli or Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-1687), Italian-born French composer(Wikipedia).
gretry: André Grétry (1741-1813), composer from the Prince-Bishopric of Liège (Wikipedia).
josquin-des-pres: Josquin des Prez (c. 1450/55-1521), Netherlandish composer (Wikipedia).
rossini: Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868), Italian composer (Wikipedia).
monteverde: Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643), Italian composer, gambist, singer and Roman Catholic priest (Wikipedia).
carissimi: Giacomo Carissimi (1605-1674), Italian composer (Wikipedia).
palestrina: Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (c. 1525-1594), Italian Renaissance composer of sacred music (Wikipedia).

South side, central part:

Left (click for enlargement)
guido d'arezzo: Guido of Arezzo (991/2-after 1033), Italian music theorist (Wikipedia).
st ambrose: Ambrose (c. 340-397), archbishop of Milan, promoted 'antiphonal chant' and composed Veni redemptor gentium, a Christmas hymn (Wikipedia).
Poets
corneille: Pierre Corneille (1606-1684), French tragedian (Wikipedia).
moliere: Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his stage name Molière (1622-1673), French playwright and actor (Wikipedia). See also B3.1.
cervantes: Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1547-1616), Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright (Wikipedia).

Middle (click for enlargement)
virgil: Publius Vergilius Maro (70-19 BC), Roman poet(Wikipedia).
dante: Durante degli Alighieri, called Dante (c. 1265-1321), Italian poet (Wikipedia).
pythagoras: Pythagoras (c. 570-c. 495 BC), Ionian Greek philosopher and mathematician (Wikipedia).
homer: Homer (7th or 8th centuries BC), the traditionally-credited creator of the Iliad and the Odyssey (Wikipedia) (also depicted in the mosaics on the canopy, B3).
chaucer: Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1343-1400), English poet (Wikipedia).
shakespeare: William Shakespeare (1564-1616), English poet, playwright and actor (Wikipedia). See also B3.1.

Right (click for enlargement)
milton: John Milton (1608-1674), English poet, polemicist, and man of letters (Wikipedia). See also B3.1.
goethe: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), German writer and statesman (Wikipedia). See also B3.1.
schiller: Friedrich Schiller (1759-1805), German poet, philosopher, historian, and playwright (Wikipedia).
Musicians
bach: Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), German composer and musician (Wikipedia).
gluck: Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714-1787), German composer (Wikipedia).
handel: George Frideric Handel or Georg Friedrich Händel (1685-1759), German-born, British Baroque composer (Wikipedia).

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South side of SE corner pedestal:
mozart: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), Austrian composer (Wikipedia).
mendelssohn: Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809-1847), German composer, pianist, organist and conductor (Wikipedia).
haydn: Joseph Haydn (1732-1809), Austrian composer (Wikipedia).
weber: Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826), German composer, conductor, pianist, guitarist and critic (Wikipedia).
beethoven: Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), German composer and pianist (Wikipedia).
tallis: Thomas Tallis (c. 1505-1585), English composer (Wikipedia).
o. gibbons: Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625), English composer, virginalist and organist (Wikipedia).
lawes: Henry Lawes (1595-1662), English musician and composer (Wikipedia).
purcell: Henry Purcell (1659-1695), English composer (Wikipedia).

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Front of SE corner pedestal:
arne: Thomas Arne (1710-1778) British composer (Wikipedia).
boyce: William Boyce (1711-1779), English composer (Wikipedia).
bishop: Henry Bishop (1786-1855), English composer (Wikipedia).
English Painters
turner: J. M. W. Turner (1775-1851), English Romantic landscape painter, water-colourist, and printmaker (Wikipedia).
wilkie: David Wilkie (1785-1841), Scottish painter (Wikipedia).
reynolds: Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792), English painter, specialising in portraits (Wikipedia).

East

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East side of SE corner pedestal:

gainsborough: Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788), English portrait and landscape painter (Wikipedia).
hogarth: William Hogarth (1697-1764), English painter, printmaker, pictorial satirist, social critic, and editorial cartoonist (Wikipedia).
Dutch, Flemish and German Painters
rembrandt: Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606-1669), Dutch painter and etcher (Wikipedia).
rubens: Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), Flemish Baroque painter (Wikipedia).
holbein: Hans Holbein the Younger (ca. 1497-1543), German artist and printmaker (Wikipedia).
durer: Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528), German painter, engraver, printmaker, mathematician, and theorist (Wikipedia).
h. van eyck: Hubert van Eyck (c.1385/90-1426), Early Netherlandish painter (Wikipedia).
j. van eyck: Jan van Eyck (before c. 1390-before 1441), Early Netherlandish painter (Wikipedia).

East side, central part:

Left (click for enlargement)
stephen of cologne: Stefan Lochner (1400 or 1410-1451), German painter (Wikipedia).
Italian Painters
cimabue: Cimabue (c. 1240-1302), Florentine painter and creator of mosaics (Wikipedia).
orcagna: Orcagna (c. 1308-1368), Italian painter, sculptor, and architect (Wikipedia).
giotto: Giotto di Bondone (1266/67-1337), Italian painter and architect (Wikipedia).
fra angelico: Fra Angelico (c. 1395-1455), Italian Renaissance painter (Wikipedia).
ghirlandajo: Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449-1494), Italian Renaissance painter (Wikipedia).
masaccio: Masaccio (1401-1428), Italian painter (Wikipedia).

Middle (click for enlargement)
l. da vinci: Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), Italian polymath, painter, sculptor, architect, musician, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist, and writer(Wikipedia).
raphael: Raphael (1483-1520), Italian painter and architect (Wikipedia) (also depicted in the mosaics on the canopy, B3).
michael angelo: Michelangelo (1475-1564), Italian sculptor, painter, architect, poet, and engineer (Wikipedia) (also depicted as sculptor, no. 146 and in the mosaics on the canopy, B3).

Right (click for enlargement)
bellini: Giovanni Bellini (c. 1430-1516), Italian Renaissance painter (Wikipedia).
titian: Titian (c. 1488/90-1576), Italian painter (Wikipedia).
mantegna: Andrea Mantegna (c. 1431-1506), Italian painter (Wikipedia).
p. veronese: Paolo Veronese (1528-1588), Italian Renaissance painter (Wikipedia).
tintoretto: Tintoretto (1518-1594), Italian painter (Wikipedia).
coreggio: Antonio da Correggio (1489-1534), Italian painter (Wikipedia).
an. caracci: Annibale Carracci (1560-1609), Italian Baroque painter (Wikipedia).
l. caracci: Ludovico Carracci (1555-1619), Italian, early-Baroque painter, etcher, and printmaker (Wikipedia).

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West side of NE corner pedestal:

Spanish Painters
velasquez: Diego Velázquez (1599-1660), Spanish painter (Wikipedia).
murillo: Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1618-1682), Spanish Baroque painter (Wikipedia).
French Painters
poussin: Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665), French painter (Wikipedia).
claude: Claude Lorrain (c. 1600-1682), French painter, draughtsman and engraver (Wikipedia).
david: Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825), French painter (Wikipedia).
gerard: François Gérard (1770-1837), French painter (Wikipedia).
gericault: Théodore Géricault (1791-1824), French painter and lithographer (Wikipedia).

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Front of NE corner pedestal:
delacroix: Eugène Delacroix (1798-1863), French Romantic artist (Wikipedia).
vernet: Claude Joseph Vernet (1714-1789), French painter (Wikipedia).
delaroche: Paul Delaroche (1797-1856), French painter (Wikipedia).
ingres: Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres (1780-1867), French Neoclassical painter (Wikipedia).
decamps: Alexandre-Gabriel Decamps (1803-1860), French painter (Wikipedia).

D2. West and north side: Sculptors and architects

Sculpted by John Birnie Philip
Signed: j.b. philip sculpt. (front of SW and NW corner pedestals)

89 sculptors and architects in chronological order (Only 88 persons: Rhoecus is included among the sculptors as well as the architects).

North

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North side of NE corner pedestal:

Architects

pugin: Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin (1812-1852), English architect, designer, artist and critic (Wikipedia).
scott: George Gilbert Scott (1811-1878), English Gothic revival architect; designer of the Prince Albert memorial (Wikipedia).
cockerell: Samuel Pepys Cockerell (1754-1827), English architect (Wikipedia).
barry: Charles Barry (1795-1860), English architect (Wikipedia).
chambers: Sir William Chambers (1723-1796), Scottish-Swedish architect (Wikipedia).
vanbrugh: John Vanbrugh (1664-1726), English architect and dramatist (Wikipedia).
wren: Christopher Wren (1632-1723), English architect (Wikipedia).
inigo jones: Inigo Jones (1573-1652), British architect (Wikipedia).
mansart: Jules Hardouin-Mansart (1646-1708), French architect (Wikipedia).
thorpe: John Thorpe c.1565-1655?; fl.1570-1618), English architect (Wikipedia).
palladio: Andrea Palladio (1508-1580), Italian architect (Wikipedia).
vignola: Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola (1507-1573), Italian architect (Wikipedia).

North side, central part:

Left (click for enlargement)
delorme: Philibert de l'Orme (c. 1514-1570), French architect (Wikipedia).
sansovino: Jacopo Sansovino (1486-1570), Italian sculptor and architect (Wikipedia).
san gallo: Giuliano da Sangallo (c. 1445-1516), Italian sculptor, architect and military engineer (Wikipedia).
peruzzi: Baldassare Peruzzi (1481-1536), Italian architect and painter (Wikipedia).
bramante: Donato Bramante (1444-1514), Italian architect (Wikipedia).
william of wykeham: William of Wykeham (1320 or 24-1404), Bishop of Winchester and Chancellor of England; did architectural work for King Edward III (Wikipedia).
alberti: Leone Battista Alberti (1404-1472), Italian humanist author, artist, architect, poet, priest, linguist, philosopher and cryptographer (Wikipedia).
brunelleschi: Filippo Brunelleschi (1377-1446), Italian architect and engineer (Wikipedia).

Middle (click for enlargement)
giotto: Giotto di Bondone (1266/67-1337), Italian painter and architect (Wikipedia).
arnolfo di lapo: Arnolfo di Cambio (c. 1240 - 1300/10), Italian architect and sculptor (Wikipedia).
erwin von steinbach: Erwin von Steinbach (c. 1244-1318), German architect (Wikipedia).
jehan de chelles: Jean de Chelles (fl. 1258-1265), French master mason and sculptor (Wikipedia).
rob de coucy: Robert De Coucy (d. 1311), French master-builder (Wikipedia).

Right (click for enlargement)
william of sens: William of Sens, 12th-century French architect (Wikipedia).
william the englishman: William the Englishman (fl. from 1174, d. c. 1214), English architect and stonemason (Wikipedia).
abbe suger: Abbot Suger (c. 1081 - 1151), French abbot, statesman, historian and one of the earliest patrons of Gothic architecture (Wikipedia).
anthemius: Anthemius of Tralles (c. 474-bef. 558), Greek professor of Geometry in Constantinople and architect (Wikipedia).
hermodorus, 4th century BC (Wikipedia).

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North side of NW corner pedestal:
apollodorus: Apollodorus of Damascus, 2nd century AD, Greek engineer, architect, designer and sculptor (Wikipedia).
callimachus: Callimachus, 5th century BC, Greek architect and sculptor (Wikipedia).
libon: Libon, 5th-century BC, Greek architect (Wikipedia).
callicrates: Callicrates, 5th century BC, Greek architect (Wikipedia).
ictinus: Ictinus, 5th century BC, Greek architect (Wikipedia) (also depicted in the mosaics on the canopy, B3).
mnesikles: Mnesikles, 5th century BC, Athenian architect (Wikipedia).
chersiphron: Chersiphron, 6th century BC, architect of Knossos (Wikipedia).
rhoecus: Rhoecus, 6th century BC, Samian sculptor (Wikipedia). He appears twice in the frieze, see no. 128.
metagenes: Metagenes, 6th century BC, Cretan architect, son of Chersiphron [no. 37] (Wikipedia).
theodorus: Theodorus of Samos, 6th century BC, Greek sculptor and architect (Wikipedia).

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Front of NW corner pedestal:
hiram: Hiram Abiff, chief architect of King Solomon's Temple (Wikipedia). His name is inscribed twice, either side of the corner point on the frieze where the figure is located.
bezaleel: Bezalel, chief artisan of the Tabernacle and was in charge of building the Ark of the Covenant (Wikipedia).
sennacherib: Sennacherib, King of Assyria, 705-681 BC, whose reign was marked by architectural renovations, constructions and expansions (Wikipedia).
nitocris: Nitocris (23rd century BC), Egyptian pharaoh, supposedly she built the 'third pyramid' at Giza (Wikipedia). The only woman among the 169 persons on the frieze.
cheops: Khufu (26th century BC), Egyptian pharaoh, commissioned the Great Pyramid of Giza (Wikipedia).

West

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West side of NW corner pedestal:

Sculptors

egyptian.
assyrian.
rhoecus: Rhoecus, 6th century BC, Samian sculptor (Wikipedia). He appears twice in the frieze, see no. 118.
dibutades: Butades, about 600 BC? first ancient Greek modeller in clay (Wikipedia).
bupalus: Bupalus, 6th century BC, member of the school of sculpture in marble in Chios (Wikipedia).
phidias: Phidias (c. 480 - 430 BC), Greek sculptor, painter and architect (Wikipedia) (also depicted in the mosaics on the canopy, B3).
scopas: Scopas (395 BC-350 BC), Greek sculptor and architect (Wikipedia).
bryaxis: Bryaxis (born c. 350 BC), Greek sculptor (Wikipedia).
leochares: Leochares, 4th century BC, sculptor from Athens (Wikipedia).
praxiteles: Praxiteles, 4th century BC, Attic sculptor (Wikipedia).
lysippus: Lysippos, 4th century BC, Greek sculptor (Wikipedia).
chares: Chares of Lindos (fl. 280 BC), Greek sculptor (Wikipedia).

West side, central part:

Left (click for enlargement)
giuliano di ravenna: probably Giuliano Argentario, 6th century, Greek banker, who sponsored the construction of the Basilica of San Vitale and the Basilica of Sant' Apollinare in Classe in Ravenna (Cf. Wikipedia)
niccola pisano: Nicola Pisano (c. 1220/1225 - c. 1284), Italian sculptor (Wikipedia).
ghiberti: Lorenzo Ghiberti (1378-1455), Florentine Italian artist (Wikipedia).
torell: William Torell (13th century), English sculptor (Wikipedia).
luca della robbia: Luca della Robbia (1399/1400-1482), Italian sculptor (Wikipedia).
william of ireland: William of Ireland (13th century), English sculptor (Cf. Wikipedia).

Middle (click for enlargement)
verrocchio: Andrea del Verrocchio (c. 1435 - 1488), Italian painter, sculptor, and goldsmith (Wikipedia).
donatello: Donatello (c. 1386-1466), Italian sculptor (Wikipedia).
michael angelo: Michelangelo (1475-1564), Italian sculptor, painter, architect, poet, and engineer (Wikipedia) (also depicted as painter, no. 60 and in the mosaics on the canopy, B3).
torrigiano: Pietro Torrigiano (1472-1528), Italian sculptor (Wikipedia).
gian di bologna: Giambologna of Jean Boulogne (1529-1608), Flemish sculptor (Wikipedia).
bandinelli: Bartolommeo Bandinelli (1493-1560), Italian sculptor, draughtsman and painter (Wikipedia).

Right (click for enlargement)
vischer: Peter Vischer the Elder (c. 1455-1529), German sculptor (Wikipedia).
cellini: Benvenuto Cellini (1500-1571), Italian goldsmith, sculptor, draftsman, soldier and musician (Wikipedia).
baccio d'agnolo: Baccio D'Agnolo (1462-1543), Italian woodcarver, sculptor and architect (Wikipedia).
goujon: Jean Goujon (c. 1510-c. 1565), French Renaissance sculptor and architect (Wikipedia).
palissy: Bernard Palissy (c. 1510-c. 1590), French Huguenot potter, hydraulics engineer and craftsman (Wikipedia).
bontemps: Pierre Bontemps (c. 1505-1568), French sculptor (Wikipedia).

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West side of SW corner pedestal:
pilon: Germain Pilon (c. 1537-1590), French Renaissance sculptor (Wikipedia).
cano: Alonzo Cano (1601-1667), Spanish painter, architect and sculptor (Wikipedia).
stone: Nicholas Stone (1586/87-1647), English sculptor and architect (Wikipedia).
bernini: Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680), Italian artist and a prominent architect (Wikipedia).
cibber: Caius Gabriel Cibber (1630-1700), Danish sculptor (Wikipedia).
puget: Pierre Paul Puget (1620-1694), French painter, sculptor, architect and engineer (Wikipedia).
gibbons: Grinling Gibbons (1648-1721), Dutch-British sculptor and wood carver (Wikipedia).
bird: Francis Bird (1667-1731), English sculptor (Wikipedia).
bushnell: John Bushnell (d. 1701), English sculptor (Wikipedia).
roubiliac: Louis-François Roubiliac (1702/05-1762), French sculptor (Wikipedia).

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Front of SW corner pedestal:
canova: Antonio Canova (1757-1822), Italian sculptor (Wikipedia).
flaxman: John Flaxman (1755-1826), British sculptor and draughtsman (Wikipedia).
david (dangers): Pierre-Jean David or David d'Angers (1788-1856), French sculptor and medallist (Wikipedia).
thorwaldsen: Bertel Thorvaldsen (c. 1770-1844), Danish sculptor (Wikipedia).

E. The Continents

Each sculptural group is centred on a mounted figure, with four surrounding figures afoot or seated. The pyramidal compositions are designed to be seen from almost all sides.

(SW corner) EUROPE, central queen mounted on a bull (referring to Europe and the Bull), surrounded by four more seated queens, each with their crown, somewhat reminiscent of the Charing Eleanor Cross.
Sculpted by Patrick MacDowell
(SE corner) ASIA, a semidraped Indian girl on a seated elephant, flanked by a vaguely Chinese Oriental, an Assyrian, another turbaned Arabic figure, excellently Biblical, and an equally Biblical reclining figure
Sculpted by John Henry Foley
Signed: j.h. foley, r.a. Sc.
(NE corner) AFRICA, an Egyptian woman with magnificent headdress on a seated camel and a servant boy with hand resting on a sphinx. On the other side, a seated Arab, and behind, a European woman gestures towards an almost naked African man.
Sculpted by William Theed
Signed: w. theed Sc.
(NW corner) AMERICA, the central figure on a rampant bison pawing the earth and presenting its sharp horns to the viewer. Yhe figures are more primitive, more urgent and active.
Sculpted by John Bell
Signed: j. bell Sc.

EUROPE
ASIA

AFRICA
AMERICA

Sculptors

Henry Hugh Armstead (London 1828 - London 1905), English sculptor and illustrator (Wikipedia).
John Bell (Great Yarmouth 1811 - London 1895), British sculptor (Wikipedia).
Sir Thomas Brock KCB RA (1847-1922), English sculptor (Wikipedia).
John Clayton (1827-1913), British artist (Wikipedia).
John Henry Foley (Dublin 1818 - London 1874), Irish sculptor (Wikipedia).
John Lawlor (Dublin c. 1820 - London 1901), Irish sculptor and medallist (Wikipedia).
Patrick MacDowell (1799-1870), British sculptor (Wikipedia).
William Calder Marshall (1813-1894), Scottish sculptor (Wikipedia).
John Birnie Philip (1824-1875), British sculptor (Wikipedia).
James Frank Redfern (on the estate of Beresford Hope, Derbyshire 1838 - 1876), English sculptor, he worked mainly be for churches, such as the cathedrals of Salisbury, Gloucester, Ely and Bristol (Wikipedia).
William Theed (Trentham, Staffordshire, 1804 - Kensington 1891), English sculptor (Wikipedia).
Thomas Thornycroft (Great Tidnock, near Gawsworth, Cheshire, 1815 - Brenchley, Kent 1885), British sculptor, father of Hamo Thornycroft (Wikipedia).
Henry Weekes RA (Canterbury 1807-1877), English sculptor (biography).

Sources & Information

Wikipedia, Albert Memorial.
Wikipedia, Frieze of Parnassus.
Wikipedia, List of public art in the City of Westminster.
Bob Speel, London sculpture, The Albert Memorial, Hyde Park, London.
The Victorian Web, The Albert Memorial.
George L. Gomme, Return of outdoor memorials in London (London: City Council, 1910) (through Internet Archive).
John Blackwood, London's Immortals: The Complete Outdoor Commemorative Statues (London: Savoy, 1989), p. 58-63.
Andrew Kershman, London's Monuments (London: Metro Publ., 2013), p. 301-302.
Peter Matthews, London's Statues and Monuments (Botley: Shire, 2012), p. 136-138.

Locatie (N 51°30'8" - W 0°10'39") (Satellite view: Google Maps)

Item Code: gblo102; Photograph: 6 August 2014
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Statues - Hither & Thither

The Albert Memorial

Description

A. Statue of Albert

B. Canopy

C. Industries

D. Frieze of Parnassus

E. The Continents

Sculptors

Sources & Information

Tags

Locatie (N 51°30'8" - W 0°10'39") (Satellite view: Google Maps)