Statue

V&A façade - Watts

Erection date: 1909

Inscription

G. F. Watts

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 - Watts

Subjects commemorated i

G. F. Watts

Born in London. His piano-making father named him after Handel. Married brief...

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

Created by i

Richard Reginald Goulden

Born Dover. In WW1 served with the Royal Engineers in France.  Other London w...

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

Also at this site i

Nearby Memorials

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Skipping Katie

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The inspiration for the statue was the sculptor's daughter Kate skipping in the garden. It was created to celebrate the opening of the ne...

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Sir Henry Bartle Frere

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Bartle Frere

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Burlington House - Michelangelo

Burlington House - Michelangelo

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

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50 years of peace

50 years of peace

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The two seated allies are unidentified at the site but with the assistance of our US consultant, Trevor Blake, we can confidently identif...

3 subjects commemorated, 4 creators