Statue

Frieze of Parnassus - Pugin

Erection date: 1872

Inscription

Pugin

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.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

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

Subjects commemorated i

Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin

Born Bloomsbury. A treasured only child he had minimal education, never learn...

Read More

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

Created by i

John Birnie Philip

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

Read More

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

Also at this site i

Nearby Memorials

Paddington Bear statue - Paddington Station, gone

Paddington Bear statue - Paddington Station, gone

W2, Paddington Station, Paddington Station

Since arriving at Paddington Station from Peru this bear's journeys have not ceased. He's been moved around the station a few times. Octo...

3 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
V&A façade - Romney

V&A façade - Romney

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
Edward VI statue at St Thomas's - Cartwright

Edward VI statue at St Thomas's - Cartwright

SE1, St Thomas's Hospital, St Thomas's Hospital

This 1682 statue by Cartwright was commissioned by Clayton and was originally at the centre of a group of figures which formed a frontisp...

2 subjects commemorated, 2 creators
Westminster School - Queen Elizabeth I statue

Westminster School - Queen Elizabeth I statue

SW1, Dean's Yard, Westminster School

Brought to our attention by Londonist's rather tongue-in-cheek post, though we see what they mean about the Polo mint. The sculptor is an...

2 subjects commemorated, 3 creators
James Hulbert

James Hulbert

EC4, Riverside walk, Garden of Fishmongers' Hall

We took our photos from the Riverside Walk, through a locked gate. To the right of our photo (out of view) one can see into the large ent...

6 subjects commemorated, 7 creators