The
Albert Memorial is situated in
Kensington GardensKensington Gardens, once the private gardens of Kensington Palace, is one of the Royal Parks of London, lying immediately to the west of Hyde Park. Most of it is in the City of Westminster, but a small section to the west is in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea...
,
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, directly to the north of the
Royal Albert HallThe Royal Albert Hall is an arts venue situated in the Knightsbridge area of the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
. It was commissioned by
Queen VictoriaVictoria was the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837, and the first Empress of India of the British Raj from 1 May 1876, until her death...
in memory of her beloved husband, Prince Albert who died of typhoid in 1861. The memorial was designed by Sir
George Gilbert ScottSir George Gilbert Scott was an English architect of the Victorian Age, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches, cathedrals and workhouses....
in the Gothic revival style. Opened in 1872, with the statue of Albert ceremonially "seated" in 1875, the memorial consists of an ornate canopy or pavilion containing a statue of Prince Albert facing south. The memorial is 176 feet tall, took over ten years to complete, and cost £120,000.
Commissioning and design
When Prince Albert died on 14 December 1861, at the age of 42, the thoughts of those in government and public life turned to the form and shape of a suitable memorial, with several possibilities, such as establishing a university or international scholarships, being mentioned. Queen Victoria, however, soon made it clear that she desired a memorial 'in the common sense of the word'. The initiative was taken by the Lord Mayor of London,
William CubittWilliam Cubitt was an English engineering contractor and politician.-Career:William was a partner in the building firm established by his elder brother, Thomas Cubitt, at Gray's Inn Road but in about 1827 the partnership was dissolved leaving William solely in charge of the business. The reasons...
, who, at a meeting on 14 January 1862, appointed a committee to raise funds for a design to be approved by the Queen. The control and future course of the project, though, moved away from
Mansion HouseMansion House is the official residence of the Lord Mayor of the City of London in London, England. It is used for some of the City of London's official functions, including an annual dinner, hosted by the Lord Mayor, at which the Chancellor of the Exchequer customarily gives a speech – his...
, and ended up being controlled by people close to the Queen, rather than the Mayor. Those who determined the overall direction from that point on were the Queen's secretary, General
Charles GreySir Charles Grey was a British army officer, member of the British House of Commons and political figure in Lower Canada. In later life, he served as private secretary to Prince Albert and later Queen Victoria....
, and the
keeper of the privy purseThe Keeper of the Privy Purse and Treasurer to the King/Queen is responsible for the financial management of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom....
, Sir Charles Phipps. Later, following the deaths of Grey and Phipps, their roles were taken on by Sir
Henry PonsonbySir Henry Frederick Ponsonby GCB was the son of the British Army general, Sir Frederick Cavendish Ponsonby, and Private Secretary to Queen Victoria....
and Sir Thomas Biddulph. Eventually, a four-man steering committee was established, led by Sir
Charles Lock EastlakeSir Charles Lock Eastlake RA was an English painter, gallery director, collector and writer of the early 19th century.-Early life:...
. Eastlake had overall control for the project until his death in 1865. An initial proposal for an
obeliskAn obelisk is a tall, narrow, four-sided, tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape at the top...
memorial failed, and this was followed in May 1862 by the appointment of a seven-strong committee of architects. A range of designs were submitted and examined. Two of the designs (those by
Philip Charles HardwickPhilip Charles Hardwick was a notable English architect of the 19th century who was once described as "a careful and industrious student of mediaeval art"...
and
George Gilbert ScottSir George Gilbert Scott was an English architect of the Victorian Age, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches, cathedrals and workhouses....
) were passed to the Queen in February 1863 for a final decision to be made. Two months later, after lengthy deliberations and negotiations with the government over the costs of the memorial, Scott's design was formally approved in April 1863.
Statue of Albert
The central statue of Albert, by
John Henry FoleyJohn Henry Foley was an Irish sculptor, best known for his statues of Daniel O'Connell in Dublin and of Prince Albert in London. Both are still considered iconic in each city.-Life:...
, was ceremonially "seated" in 1875, three years after the memorial opened. The statue faces to the south, towards the Royal Albert Hall. Albert is holding a catalogue of
The Great ExhibitionThe Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations or Great Exhibition, sometimes referred to as the Crystal Palace Exhibition in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held, was an international exhibition that took place in Hyde Park, London, England, from 1 May to 15...
, and is robed as a Knight of the Garter.
Frieze of Parnassus
The central part of the memorial is surrounded by the elaborate sculptural
Frieze of Parnassus (named after
Mount ParnassusMount Parnassus is a mountain of limestone in central Greece that towers above Delphi, north of the Gulf of Corinth, and offers scenic views of the surrounding olive groves and countryside. According to Greek mythology, this mountain was sacred to Apollo and the Corycian nymphs, and the home of the...
, the favorite resting place for the Greek muses), which depicts 169 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.
Henry Hugh ArmsteadHenry Hugh Armstead , English sculptor and illustrator, was born in London, son of a heraldic chaser.Armstead was first trained as a silversmith, and achieved the highest excellence with the St. Georges Vase and the Outram Shield...
carved the figures on the south and east side, the painters, musicians and poets (80 in total), and grouped them by national schools.
John Birnie Philip.John Birnie Philip was a notable English sculptor of the 19th century.He studied at the Government School of Design at Somerset House in London, and from 1852 carried out ornamental stone carving for Sir George Gilbert Scott.His public sculpture commissions included, with Henry Hugh Armstead ,...
carved the figures on the west and north side, the sculptors and architects, and arranged them in chronological order.
Allegorical sculptures
At the corners of the central area, and at the corners of the outer area, there are two
allegorical sculptureAllegorical sculpture refers to sculptures that symbolize and particularly personify abstract ideas as in allegory.Common in the Western world, for example, are statues of 'Justice', a female figure traditionally holding scales in one hand, as a symbol of her weighing issues and arguments, and a...
programs: four groups depicting Victorian industrial arts and sciences (
agricultureAgriculture is the production of food and goods through farming and forestry. Agriculture was the key development that led to the rise of human civilization, with the husbandry of domesticated animals and plants creating food surpluses that enabled the development of more densely populated and...
,
commerceCommerce is a division of trade or production which deals with the exchange of goods and services from producer to final consumer. It comprises the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information, or money between two or more entities...
,
engineeringEngineering is the discipline, art and profession of acquiring and applying technical, scientific and mathematical knowledge to design and implement materials, structures, machines, devices, systems, and processes that safely realize a desired objective or inventions.The American Engineers' Council...
and
manufacturingManufacturing is the use of machines, tools and labor to make things for use or sale. The term may refer to a range of human activity, from handicraft to high tech, but is most commonly applied to industrial production, in which raw materials are transformed into finished goods on a large scale...
), and four more groups representing
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
,
AsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.6% of the earth's total surface area and with approximately 4 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population.Asia is traditionally defined as part of the...
,
AfricaAfrica is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area. With a billion people in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.8% of the...
and The Americas at the four corners, each continent-group including several ethnographic figures and a large animal. (A
camelCamels are even-toed ungulates within the genus Camelus. The dromedary or Arabian camel has a single hump, and the Bactrian camel has two humps. They are native to the dry desert areas of western Asia, and central and east Asia, respectively...
for Africa, a
buffaloThe American Bison is a North American species of bison, also commonly known as the American Buffalo. "Buffalo" is somewhat of a misnomer for this animal, as it is only distantly related to either of the two "true buffaloes", the Asian Buffalo and the African Buffalo...
for the Americas, an
elephantElephants are large land mammals in two genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta. Three species of elephant are living today: the African Bush Elephant, the African Forest Elephant and the Asian Elephant...
for Asia and a
bullCattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...
for Europe.)
Canopy
The mosaics for each side and beneath the canopy of the Memorial were designed by
Clayton and BellClayton and Bell was one of the most prolific and proficient firms of English stained glass manufacturers during the latter half of the 19th century. The partners were John Richard Clayton and Alfred Bell . The company was founded in 1855 and continued until 1993...
and manufactured by the firm of
SalviatiSalviati can mean:* The Salviati were a prominent 15th century Florentine-Roman banking family.* The painter Francesco Salviati.* The Salviati family , glass makers and mosaicists in 19th century Venice....
from Murano, Venice.
The memorial's canopy features several mosaics as external and internal decorative artworks. Each of the four external mosiacs show a central allegorical figure of the four arts (
poetryPoetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
,
paintingPainting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . In art, the term describes both the act and the result, which is called a painting. Paintings may have for their support such surfaces as walls, paper, canvas, wood, glass, lacquer, clay or concrete...
,
architectureFor a topical guide to this subject, see Outline of architecture. Architecture is the art and science of designing and constructing buildings and other physical structures for human shelter or use....
and
sculptureSculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard and/or plastic material, sound, and/or text and or light, commonly stone , metal, glass, or wood. Some sculptures are created directly by finding or carving; others are assembled, built together and fired, welded, molded,...
), supported by two historical figures either side. The historical figures are: King David and
HomerHomer is a legendary ancient Greek epic poet, traditionally said to be the author of the epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey...
(
POESIS - poetry),
ApellesApelles of Kos was a renowned painter of ancient Greece. Pliny the Elder, to whom we owe much of our knowledge of this artist rated him superior to preceding and subsequent artists...
and
RaphaelRaffaello Sanzio da Urbino , better known simply as Raphael, was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance, celebrated for the perfection and grace of his paintings and drawings...
(painting),
SolomonSolomon is a figure described in the Hebrew Bible as a King of Israel and later in the Qur'an, where he is described as a Prophet. The biblical accounts identify Solomon as the son of David...
and Ictinus (architecture), and
PhidiasPhidias or Pheidias ; circa 480 BC 430 BC), was a Greek sculptor, painter and architect, who lived in the 5th century BC, and is commonly regarded as one of the greatest of all sculptors of Classical Greece: Phidias' Statue of Zeus at Olympia was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World...
and
MichelangeloMichelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni , commonly known as Michelangelo, was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer...
(sculpture). Materials used in the mosaics include
enamelIn a discussion of material science, enamel is the colorful result of fusing powdered glass to a substrate by firing, usually between 750 and 850 degrees Celsius. The powder melts and flows and hardens to a smooth, durable vitreous coating on metal, glass or ceramic...
, polished stone,
agateAgate is a microcrystalline variety of quartz , chiefly chalcedony, characterised by its fineness of grain and brightness of color...
,
onyxOnyx is a cryptocrystalline form of quartz. The colors of its bands range from white to almost every color . Commonly, specimens of onyx available contain bands of colors of white, tan, and brown. Sardonyx is a variant in which the colored bands are sard rather than black...
,
jasperJasper is an opaque, impure variety of silica, usually red, yellow, brown or green in color. Blue is rare. This mineral breaks with a smooth surface, and is used for ornamentation or as a gemstone. It can be highly polished and is used for vases, seals, and at one time for snuff boxes. When the...
, cornelian,
crystalA crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituent atoms, molecules, or ions are arranged in an orderly repeating pattern extending in all three spatial dimensions. The scientific study of crystals and crystal formation is crystallography...
,
marbleMarble is a non foliated metamorphic rock resulting from the metamorphism of limestone, composed mostly of calcite . It is extensively used for sculpture, as a building material, and in many other applications...
, and
graniteGranite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite has a medium to coarse texture, occasionally with some individual crystals larger than the groundmass forming a rock known as porphyry. Granites can be pink to dark gray or even black, depending on their...
.
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.
The pillars and niches of the canopy feature eight statues representing the practical arts and sciences:
AstronomyAstronomy is the scientific study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the Earth's atmosphere...
,
GeologyGeology is the science and study of the solid and liquid matter that constitutes the Earth. The field of geology encompasses the study of the composition, structure, physical properties, dynamics, and history of Earth materials, and the processes by which they are formed, moved, and changed...
,
ChemistryChemistry is the science concerned with the composition, behavior, structure, and properties of matter, as well as the changes it undergoes during chemical reactions...
,
GeometryGeometry arose as the field of knowledge dealing with spatial relationships. Geometry was one of the two fields of pre-modern mathematics, the other being the study of numbers....
(on the four pillars) and
RhetoricRhetoric is one of the arts of using language as a means to persuade. Along with grammar and logic or dialectic, rhetoric is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. From ancient Greece to the late 19th Century, it was a central part of Western education, filling the need to train public...
,
MedicineMedicine is the art and science of healing. It encompasses a range of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
,
PhilosophyPhilosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing these questions by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on reasoned...
and
PhysiologyPhysiology is the science of the functioning of living systems. It is a subcategory of biology...
(in the four niches).
Near the top of the canopy's tower are eight statues of the moral and Christian virtues, including the four
cardinal virtuesIn some Christian traditions, there are four cardinal virtues:*Prudence - able to judge between actions with regard to appropriate actions at a given time*Justice - proper moderation between the self-interest and the rights and needs of others...
and the three
theological virtuesIn Christian philosophy, theological virtues are the character qualities associated with salvation. The three theological virtues are:*Faith - steadfastness in belief...
. The virtues are: Faith,
HopeHope is one of the three theological virtues in Christian tradition. Hope being a combination of the desire for something and expectation of receiving it, the virtue is hoping for Divine union and so eternal happiness...
,
CharityIn Christian theology charity, or love , means an unlimited loving-kindness toward all others.The term should not be confused with the more restricted modern use of the word charity to mean benevolent giving....
and Humility, and Fortitude, Prudence,
JusticeJustice is one of the four cardinal virtues in classical European philosophy and Roman Catholicism. It is the moderation between selfishness and selflessness....
and
TemperanceTemperance is the practice of moderation. It was one of the four "cardinal" virtues held to be vital to society in Hellenic culture...
. Humility is considered to be annexed to the virtue of temperance. Above these, towards the top of tower, are gilded angels raising their arms heavenwards. At the very top of the tower is a gold cross.
Foundations
Below the Memorial is a large
undercroftAn undercroft is traditionally a cellar or storage room, often brick-lined and vaulted, and used for storage in buildings since medieval times. In modern usage, an undercroft is generally a ground area which is relatively open to the sides, but covered by the building above.- History :While some...
, consisting of numerous brick arches, which serves as the foundation that supports the large weight of the stone and metal used to build the monument.
Architects
The memorial was planned by a committee of architects led by Sir
George Gilbert ScottSir George Gilbert Scott was an English architect of the Victorian Age, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches, cathedrals and workhouses....
. The other architects, some of whom died during the course of the project, or were replaced, included
Carlo MarochettiBaron Carlo Marochetti was a sculptor, born in Turin, but raised in Paris as a French citizen. His first teachers were François Joseph Bosio and Gros in Paris. Here his statue of A Young Girl playing with a Dog won a medal in 1829, and his Fallen Angel was exhibited in 1831. Between 1822 and...
,
Thomas Leverton DonaldsonThomas Leverton Donaldson was a prominent English architect during the 19th century.He was born in London the eldest son of an architect, James Donaldson...
,
William TiteSir William Tite, CB was an English architect who served as President of the Royal Institute of British Architects. He was particularly associated with various London buildings, with railway stations and cemetery projects....
,
Sydney SmirkeSydney Smirke, architect, was born in London, England, the younger brother of Sir Robert Smirke, also an architect. Their father, also Robert Smirke, had been a well-known 18th Century painter.Sydney Smirke's works include:...
,
James PennethorneSir James Pennethorne was a notable 19th century English architect and planner, particularly associated with buildings and parks in central London....
,
Matthew Digby WyattSir Matthew Digby Wyatt was a British architect and art historian who became Secretary of the Great Exhibition, Surveyor of the East India Company and the first Slade Professor of Fine Art at the University of Cambridge....
, Philip C. Hardwick,
William BurnWilliam Burn was a Scottish architect, pioneer of the Scottish Baronial style.He was born in Edinburgh, the son of architect Robert Burn, and educated at the Royal High School. After training with the architect of the British Museum, Sir Robert Smirke, he returned to Edinburgh in 1812...
and
Edward Middleton BarryEdward Middleton Barry was an English architect of the 19th century.-Biography:Edward Barry was the third son of Sir Charles Barry, born in his father's house, 27 Foley Place, London. In infancy he was delicate, and was placed under the care of a confidential servant at Blackheath...
.
Sculptors
The sculptor
Henry Hugh ArmsteadHenry Hugh Armstead , English sculptor and illustrator, was born in London, son of a heraldic chaser.Armstead was first trained as a silversmith, and achieved the highest excellence with the St. Georges Vase and the Outram Shield...
coordinated this massive effort among many artists of the
Royal AcademyThe Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London, England. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment...
, including
Thomas ThornycroftThomas Thornycroft was an English sculptor and engineer.Thomas Thornycroft was born near Gawsworth, Cheshire, the eldest son of John Thornycroft, a farmer. He was educated at Congleton Grammar School and then briefly apprenticed to a surgeon. He moved to London where he spent four years as an...
(carved the "Commerce" group),
Patrick MacDowellPatrick MacDowell RA was a sculptor from Belfast.He was elected to the Royal Academy in 1848. His works include a statue of Sir William Brown in the Concert Hall of St George's Hall, Liverpool. His last major work was the Europe allegorical group at the Albert Memorial in London.-External links:*...
(carved the "Europe" group, his last major work),
John BellJohn Bell 1811 - 1895 was a British sculptor, born in Hopton, Suffolk.Bell moved from Suffolk to London to attend the Royal Academy Schools in 1829. His "Babes in the Wood" was exhibited at the Royal Academy summer exhibition in 1839...
(carved the "America" group),
John Henry FoleyJohn Henry Foley was an Irish sculptor, best known for his statues of Daniel O'Connell in Dublin and of Prince Albert in London. Both are still considered iconic in each city.-Life:...
(carved the "Asia" group and started the statue of Albert),
William TheedWilliam Theed, also known as William Theed, the younger was an English sculptor, the son of the sculptor and painter William Theed the elder...
(carved the "Africa" group),
William Calder MarshallWilliam Calder Marshall was a Scottish sculptor. Born in Edinburgh, he attended the Royal High School and Edinburgh University before enrolling at the Royal Academy school in London in 1834, where he won the silver medal. In 1836 he went to Rome to pursue his study of classical...
,
James RedfernJames Frank Redfern , sculptor, was born at Hartington in Derbyshire, in 1838. He is best known for works incorporated into Gothic churches, including Salisbury Cathedral and Gloucester Cathedral...
(carved the four Christian and four moral virtues including
Fortitude), John Lawlor (carved the "Engineering" group) and
Henry WeekesHenry Weekes, RA was an English sculptor, best known for his portraiture. He was among the most successful British sculptors of the mid-Victorian period....
(carved the "Manufactures" group). The Scottish sculptor William Calder Marshall carved the "Agriculture" group. The figure of Albert himself, although started by Foley, was completed by
Thomas BrockSir Thomas Brock KCB RA was an English sculptor.- Life :Brock was born in Worcester, attended the School of Design in Worcester and then undertook an apprenticeship in modelling at the Worcester Royal Porcelain Works. In 1866 he became a pupil of the sculptor John Henry Foley. He married in 1869,...
, in what was Brock's first major work.
Armstead created some 80 of the figure sculptures on the southern and eastern sides of the memorial's podium. The north and west sides were carved by the sculptor
John Birnie Philip.John Birnie Philip was a notable English sculptor of the 19th century.He studied at the Government School of Design at Somerset House in London, and from 1852 carried out ornamental stone carving for Sir George Gilbert Scott.His public sculpture commissions included, with Henry Hugh Armstead ,...
. Armstead also sculpted the bronze statues representing
Astronomy,
Chemistry,
Rhetoric, and
Medicine.
Henry Weekes carved the
allegoricalAllegory is a figurative mode of representation conveying a meaning other than the literal. An allegory is a device that can be presented in literary form, such as a poem or novel, or in visual form, such as in painting or sculpture...
work
Manufactures (1864–70). Although Weekes was not on Queen Victoria's original list of sculptors, being selected to work on the project only after
John GibsonJohn Gibson, was a Welsh sculptor.-Early life:He was born near Conwy, Wales, his father being a market gardener. To his mother, whom he described as ruling his father and all the family, he owed the energy and determination which carried him over every obstacle.When he was nine years old the...
declined to participate, his group occupies the preferable south side of the finished monument. A central female figure holds an
hourglassAn hourglass, also known as a sandglass, sand timer, sand clock or egg timer, is a device for the measurement of time. It consists of two glass bulbs placed one above the other which are connected by a narrow tube. One of the bulbs is usually filled with fine sand which flows through the narrow...
, symbolising the critical nature of time to industry, while an ironworker stands at his anvil and a potter and weaver offer their wares.
Later history
By the late 1990s the Memorial had fallen into a state of some decay. A thorough restoration was carried out by
MowlemMowlem was one of the largest construction and civil engineering companies in the United Kingdom. Carillion bought the firm in 2006.-History:...
which included cleaning, repainting and re-gilding the entire monument as well as carrying out structural repairs. In the process the cross on top of the monument, which had been put on sideways during an earlier restoration attempt, was returned to its correct position. Some of the restoration, including repairs to damaged friezes, were of limited success.
The centrepiece of the Memorial is a seated figure of Prince Albert. Following restoration, this is now covered in gold leaf. For eighty years the statue had been covered in black paint. Various theories had existed that it was deliberately blackened during
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
to prevent it becoming a target for
ZeppelinFor the English rock group, please see Led Zeppelin. For other meanings please see Zeppelin .A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship pioneered by the German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin in the early 20th century. It was based on designs he had outlined in 1874 and detailed in 1893...
bombing raids or domestic anti-German sentiment. However,
English HeritageEnglish Heritage . is a non-departmental public body of the United Kingdom government with a broad remit of managing the historic built environment of England. It is currently sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
's research prior to the restoration suggests that the black coating pre-dates 1914 and may have been a response to atmospheric pollution that had destroyed the original gold leaf surface.
Further restoration work, including re-pointing the steps surrounding the memorial, commenced in the summer of 2006. For the duration of that work, there is no public access within the ornate surrounding fence.
Architectural influences
The popularity of the Prince Consort led to the creation of several other "Albert Memorials" around the United Kingdom. The Kensington memorial was not, however, the earliest one; the first to be erected was
Thomas WorthingtonThomas Worthington was a 19th-century English architect, particularly associated with public buildings in and around Manchester.-Early life:...
's Albert Memorial in
Albert Square, ManchesterAlbert Square is a public square in the centre of Manchester, England.It is dominated by its largest building, Manchester Town Hall , a Victorian Gothic building by Alfred Waterhouse...
, which was unveiled in 1865, some seven years prior to London's monument. Both memorials present the figure of Prince Albert enclosed within a Medieval-style
ciboriumIn ecclesiastical architecture, a ciborium is a canopy or covering supported by columns, freestanding in the sanctuary, that covers the altar in a basilica or other church. Such a ciborium is also known as a baldachin....
, and the similarities of design have been remarked on.
There is some controversy as to whether the memorial in
ManchesterManchester is a city and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. In 2007, the population of the city was estimated to be 458,100...
was influenced by the publication of Scott's design, or whether Scott was himself inspired by Worthing's design, or whether both architects decided on their canopy designs independently.
Worthington's design was published in
The BuilderBuilding is one of the UK’s oldest business-to-business magazines, launched as The Builder in 1843 by Joseph Aloysius Hansom – architect of Birmingham Town Hall and designer of the Hansom Cab. The journal was renamed Building in 1966 as it is still known today. Building is the only UK title to...
on 27 September 1862, before Scott's final design was unveiled. However, writing in his
Recollections, Gilbert Scott suggested his own design was original: "My idea in designing the Memorial was to erect a kind of
ciboriumIn ecclesiastical architecture, a ciborium is a canopy or covering supported by columns, freestanding in the sanctuary, that covers the altar in a basilica or other church. Such a ciborium is also known as a baldachin....
to protect a statue of the Prince; and its special characteristic was that the ciborium was designed in some degree on the principles of the ancient
shrineA shrine is a holy or sacred place, which is dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint or similar figure of awe and respect, at which they are venerated or worshipped. Shrines often contain idols, relics, or other such objects associated with the figure being venerated...
s. These shrines were models of imaginary buildings, such as had never in reality been erected; and my idea was to realise one of these imaginary structures with its precious materials, its inlaying, its enamels, etc. etc. ... this was an idea so new as to provoke much opposition."
The Albert Memorial was not the first revivalist design for a canopied statue in a Gothic style - the
Scott MonumentThe Scott Monument is a Victorian Gothic monument to Scottish author Sir Walter Scott . It stands in Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh, opposite the Jenners department store on Princes Street and near to Edinburgh Waverley Railway Station.The tower is high, and has a series of viewing decks...
in
EdinburghEdinburgh is the capital city of Scotland. It is the second largest Scottish city, after Glasgow, and the seventh-most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas....
had been designed by
George Meikle KempGeorge Meikle Kemp was a Scottish joiner, draftsman, and self-taught architect....
over twenty years earlier, and may itself have influenced Worthington's designs for Manchester.
External links