Statue

Frieze of Parnassus - Goethe

Erection date: 1872

Inscription

Goethe

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

SW7, Kensington Road

The monument, officially titled the Prince Consort National Memorial, celebrates Victorian achievement and Prince Albert's passions and interests. It was 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.

Marble figures representing Europe, Asia, Africa and America stand at each corner of the memorial. Each of these groups comprises an animal typical of that continent and a few noble but stereotypical people from the region.

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.

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

Subjects commemorated i

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Died Weimar.

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

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 - Goethe

Also at this site i

Nearby Memorials

V&A façade - Constable

V&A façade - Constable

SW7, Cromwell Road

Excluding the allegories (such as Knowledge) there are 36 statues on the two public façades of the V&A Museum, on Exhibition Road and...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Bishop Compton

Bishop Compton

SW6, Bishop's Avenue, Fulham Palace Gardens

The book he holds has "MPM FEBM" on the back cover and "DAM MPM" on the front cover. Perhaps these initials relate to the Moorhouse famil...

1 subject commemorated, 2 creators
Mozart statue

Mozart statue

SW1, Orange Square

{Front of plinth:} Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, born Salzburg 27th January 1759, died Vienna 5th December 1791. {Plaque on rear of plinth:}...

1 subject commemorated, 8 creators
Westminster School - old boys - 3 - Victoria

Westminster School - old boys - 3 - Victoria

SW1, Broad Sanctuary

From Westminster's Conservation Audit: This Listed grade II monument was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott. It is in a high Victorian ...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Nigel Gresley statue

Nigel Gresley statue

N1, King's Cross Station, King's Cross Station

Our photo shows the statue shortly after unveiling, with only a temporary notice. By February 2017 this had been replaced with a plaque. ...

1 subject commemorated, 2 creators

Previously viewed

William Hammer, Mayor of Hackney

William Hammer, Mayor of Hackney

Councillor William Hammer JP, Mayor of Hackney in 1912.

Person, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
WPC Jane Arbuthnot

WPC Jane Arbuthnot

Andrew Behan has researched this woman: Woman Police Constable Philippa Jane Arbuthnot was born on 8 October 1961, the youngest of the four children of Lieutenant Commander John Keith Arbuthnot O.B...

Person, Armed Forces, Tragedy

1 memorial
Dome of Discovery

Dome of Discovery

SE1, Jubilee Gardens

We found this plaque in 2010 and photographed it but following the pre-Jubolympics sprucing up of Jubillee Gardens in 2012, the plaque di...

4 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
John Courage

John Courage

Born Aberdeen.  Came to London in 1780 as a shipping agent.  He bought the Private House and Old Brewhouse at Horselydown in 1787 and developed it into a thriving business.  Died London.

Person, Commerce, Food & Drink, Scotland

1 memorial
Michele Latour

Michele Latour

N7, Manor Gardens, Royal Northern Gardens

Initially the only information we had about this poignant memorial came from Islington's Management Plan for the garden (2017 'page not f...

1 subject commemorated