Statue

Frieze of Parnassus - Grinling Gibbons

Erection date: 1872

Inscription

Gibbons

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 - Grinling Gibbons

Subjects commemorated i

Grinling Gibbons

Born Rotterdam. Wood carver and sculptor. Other works in London: a marble fon...

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

Created by i

John Birnie Philip

John Birnie Philip was born on 23 November 1824 in London, the third son of t...

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

Also at this site i

Nearby Memorials

Sir Keith Park

Sir Keith Park

SW1, Waterloo Place

A resin version of this statue was temporarily installed in Trafalgar Square on the 'fourth plinth' on 4 November 2009.

2 subjects commemorated, 4 creators
Westminster Abbey J - Wang Zhiming

Westminster Abbey J - Wang Zhiming

SW1, Broad Sanctuary, Westminster Abbey - west porch

Fourteen niches on the West Front remained empty since the Abbey was built until 1998 when they were filled. The lower four are filled wi...

1 subject commemorated, 4 creators
Imperial Hotel - statue 08 - Wolsey

Imperial Hotel - statue 08 - Wolsey

WC1, Russell Square

Sampson Strong's portrait of Wolsey has these clothes and, crucially, the raised fingers.

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Frieze of Parnassus - Tallis

Frieze of Parnassus - Tallis

SW7, Kensington Road

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

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Burlington House - Titian

Burlington House - Titian

W1, Piccadilly, Royal Academy

This building is commonly known as the Royal Academy (of Arts). The wings of the building are occupied by a number of learned societies, ...

1 subject commemorated