Statue

V&A façade - Cosway

Victoria & Albert Museum façade V&A façade - Cosway

Erection date: 1909

Inscription

R. Cosway

Site: Victoria & Albert Museum façade (38 memorials)

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 Cromwell Road. This building was designed by Aston Webb and built 1899-1909. Each statue has the subject's name on a label beneath the feet and the sculptor's name inscribed in the wall of the niche to the right of the statue. Starting in Cromwell Road and reading right to left:

Group of 6 British architects:
Chas. Barry
W. Chambers
Chrisr. Wren
Inigo Jones
John Thorpe
Wykeham

Group of 5 British painters:
J. E. Millais
Ld. Leighton
G. F. Watts
J. Constable
J. M. W. Turner

And flanking the entrance:
Queen Alexandra (to the right)
King Edward VII (to the left)

Albert (below the arch)
Victoria (in the arch)

On either side of the arch, at eye level there is a foundation stone:
Stone laid by Edward VII (to the right)
Stone laid by Victoria (to the left)

Group of 5 British painters:
R. Cosway
G. Romney
T. Gainsborough
J. Reynolds
W. Hogarth

Group of 6 British sculptors:
Alfred Stevens
John H. Foley
F. L. Chantrey
John Flaxman
John Bacon
Grinlg. Gibbons

And around the corner in Exhibition Road:

Group of 5 British craftsmen:
William Morris
Roger Payne
J. Wedgwood
T. Chippendale
Thos. Tompion

Group of 5 British craftsmen:
Huntingn. Shaw
George Heriot
William Caxton
William Torel
St. Dunstan

Note that there are more Johns than women but that's not difficult since, excluding royalty, there are no women!

This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
V&A façade - Cosway

Subjects commemorated i

Richard Cosway

Born Tiverton, Devon Painter of miniatures, the picture is a self-portrait.

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This section lists the subjects who helped to create/erect the memorial on this page:
V&A façade - Cosway

Created by i

Earnest George Gillick

Also responsible for, among others, the Scott Monument in Edinburgh, the Ceno...

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This section lists the other memorials at the same location as the memorial on this page:
V&A façade - Cosway

Also at this site i

Nearby Memorials

Wilkes

Wilkes

EC4, Fetter Lane

The Wilkes squint has been faithfully reproduced in the statue.

1 subject commemorated, 2 creators
Frieze of Parnassus - Raphael

Frieze of Parnassus - Raphael

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 instal...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
James Greathead statue

James Greathead statue

EC3, Cornhill

Note that part of the Greathead shield used in digging the tunnels at Bank Station was left in situ.

2 subjects commemorated, 2 creators
Frieze of Parnassus - Bushnell

Frieze of Parnassus - Bushnell

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 instal...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Frieze of Parnassus - Wren

Frieze of Parnassus - Wren

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 instal...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator