Statue

Frieze of Parnassus - Purcell

Erection date: 1872

Inscription

Purcell

Site: Albert Memorial & The Frieze of Parnassus (52 memorials)

SW7, Kensington Road

The monument, commissioned by Queen Victoria and designed by George Gilbert Scott, was built 1864-72, and the statue of Albert was installed in 1875. Even for a Victorian edifice the excess of decoration is extraordinary - we suspect the design suffered mission creep.

On the Frieze of Parnassus are depicted 168 men, 1 woman and two dogs, gender unknown. The woman is Nitocris, a historically questionable pharaoh who, it is claimed, built the third pyramid at Giza.

The men are segregated by field of fame. Reading anticlockwise from the south-west corner: Armstead carved the south and east sides, populated with musicians, poets, musicians, painters, grouped by nationality; Philip carved the north and west sides with architects and sculptors, cleverly arranged chronologically so that the Egyptian architects turn the corner in the same space with Egyptian sculptors.

Remarkably the whole Frieze was carved on site. In the selection of the figures, only one exception to the "must be dead" rule was allowed: George Gilbert Scott himself. Actually only 167 men are represented, one of them twice: Michelangelo as a painter and again as a sculptor. The dogs are Hogarth's Trump and a generic greyhound associated with Veronese.

Normally one cannot get close enough to the Frieze to take satisfactory photos but in May 2017 we joined a tour of the monument which gave us the proximity needed. We photographed all the figures in the Frieze but have decided to publish only (with a few exceptions) those already on London Remembers. Many of the others are little-known outside their field and have no connection to London. See Wikipedia for the entire list and some good photos of the whole Frieze.

The monument has many other figures of an allegorical nature, which are well covered at The Library Time Machine. Another page at the Library Time Machine has some interesting photos of the monument under construction.

Ian Visits managed to get a tour of the usually inaccessible undercroft, the structure that supports this monument.

This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
Frieze of Parnassus - Purcell

Subjects commemorated i

Henry Purcell

Organist and composer. Born St Anne's Lane, Westminster. Died at home in Mars...

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This section lists the subjects who helped to create/erect the memorial on this page:
Frieze of Parnassus - Purcell

Created by i

Henry Hugh Armstead

Sculptor and illustrator. Born Bloomsbury. Executed a large number of public ...

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This section lists the other memorials at the same location as the memorial on this page:
Frieze of Parnassus - Purcell

Also at this site i

Nearby Memorials

Ledley King - steel statue

Ledley King - steel statue

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1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Princess Diana statue

Princess Diana statue

W8, Sunken Garden, Princess Diana Memorial Garden, Kensington Palace

This bronze, larger than life-size statue was unveiled by Princes William and Harry, on what would have been Diana's 60th birthday. It wa...

1 subject commemorated, 3 creators
George II statue at Greenwich

George II statue at Greenwich

SE10, Old Royal Naval College, Grand Square

This statue is made of a single piece of marble weighing 11 tons. As was the fashion at the time the king is depicted wearing the militar...

2 subjects commemorated, 2 creators
Isabella

Isabella

W1, St George Street, 6-7, Sotheby's

This identification of the statues on front of this building is only tentative, suggested by Ornamental Passions.

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Robert Burns

Robert Burns

WC2, Victoria Embankment Gardens

Quill pen in hand. Unveiled by Lord Rosebery. This statue is one of 3 copies of that in Central Park, New York, the others being in Dunde...

1 subject commemorated, 3 creators