Statue

Frieze of Parnassus - Tallis

Erection date: 1872

Inscription

Tallis

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 - Tallis

Subjects commemorated i

Thomas Tallis

Composer. His early life is sketchy. His first known appointment was in 1532 ...

Read More

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

Created by i

Henry Hugh Armstead

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

Read More

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

Also at this site i

Nearby Memorials

Clement Attlee statue

Clement Attlee statue

E1, Commerical Road, Queen Mary College

It's rather disconcerting that the plaque refers to "Queen Mary College" as "Queen Mary" as in "... the Great Hall....now part of Queen M...

2 subjects commemorated, 7 creators
Imperial Camel Corps

Imperial Camel Corps

WC2, Victoria Embankment Gardens

The sculptor was also a member of the corps. Unveiled by Chetwode. For another London camel statue see General Gordon on a camel. And If ...

War dead | WW1
350 subjects commemorated, 3 creators
Frieze of Parnassus - Purcell

Frieze of Parnassus - Purcell

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
President Reagan statue

President Reagan statue

W1, Grosvenor Square

Don't know about you but we find this type of inscription very tedious, and suspect a committee, probably more than one, has had a hand i...

2 subjects commemorated, 17 creators
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

Previously viewed

Constant Lambert

Constant Lambert

NW1, Albany Street, 197

English Heritage Constant Lambert, 1905 - 1951, composer, lived here, 1947 - 1951.

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator