Critical and Contextual studies Unit 3 By Annabel Gladman
What is Public Art? What is public art? Public art is the artwork that is commissioned, designed and displayed in areas that are accessible for the general public. It is an art form of any size and can be either abstract or realistic. It can be cast, carved, built, assembled or even painted. Public art can be created for particular locations, or it can stand in contrast to its surroundings. Public art can be found in both urban and rural areas, it can help to enhance a sense of community and can help to transform the surrounding landscape. Public art can be either temporary or permanent. Why is public art important? Public art helps to involve both the community as well as artists whilst trying to develop and transform a public place. Public art has a significant impact on the local community as it enhances the environment, brings communities together, offers social and educational opportunities and also helps to boost tourism. On top of this it helps to bring communities together. Public art also gives the community a way to display their local history and also culture.
Public Art in Swindon When looking into the topic of Public Art I decided to look into my hometown of Swindon, and what is has to offer in terms of Public Art. It turned out that Swindon has a vast variety of Public Art that is suitable for everyone.
Peter pan by Unknown This statue of Peter Pan has been located in a park in Swindon town centre since World War I, but it was stolen in 2004. Since then it has been recovered and restored and put into storage, a fibre glass replica was put in the Town Gardens in November 2010. This statue is 2ft tall and the way that Peter Pan has been positioned shows his importance and authority. It also represents some factors of what he appeared like in children's stories and films. It gives viewers the impression that he is about to fly away, this statue also contains a lot of detail that helps to enhance his overall outcome. The detailed facial expressions help to express childhood emotions as well as interacting with viewers, this helps all ages to recognise the story behind Peter Pan. It also helps to represent the theatrical background of Swindon and the shows that the community performed. The drapery also helps to enhance the visual effect of Peter pan and the meaning behind him.
Diana Dors by John Clinch This statue was made in the 1980s by John Clinch and is made from bronze. It was commissioned by Thamesdown Borough Council through the Percent for Art Policy, which was funded by Carter Commercial Developments. This sculpture is a tribute to one of Swindon’s most famous and glamorous residents, the film star, Diana Dors. This sculpture of Diana Dors shows her stood upright with her hands on her hips. She is wearing a dress and has got a stole wrapped over her arms and around her back. She is situated outside a cinema which is very appropriate, due to her being a famous film-star herself. This sculpture is made out of bronze, therefore is weather resistant. The sculpture is much larger than life, which represents her, as she most certainly was. Her name on the statue appears as if it is in lights, which it would have been when she was a film star. Her drapery makes her look important and wealthy and as if she has a purpose, this also helps to imply her wealth of being a film star.
Hey Diddle Diddle by Vega Bermejo Hey Diddle Diddle is by Vega Bermejo and was created in 1992, it has been created out of Portland Stone. It was commissioned by Thamesdown Borough Council and is sponsored by Clarke Holmes Ltd. This public art sculpture is located in a domestic setting of the Sparcells in West Swindon and depicts the popular nursery rhyme. This link to the nursery rhyme then helps the community to be able to relate to the sculpture as a majority of people are familiar with this rhyme. You can see that this Portland stone has weathered over time and has slightly changed colour, this makes some of the finer details less clear but for the larger details it does not effect them. You are able to see different images and sections from the nursery rhyme on all sides of this sculpture, this then allows people to view it from all angles. It also provides viewers with a range of perspectives, rather than one.
How the mighty fall by Tim Sandys-Renton How the might fall is by Tim Sandys-Renton and was created in 1989, it is made out of cast iron which is a weather resistant material. It was commissioned by Thamesdown Borough Council through the Percent for Art Policy. This sculpture was installed in the mid-late 1980s when the area was being developed. The description of this piece describes the sculpture as inviting the observer to transport themselves into the future and view the sculpture as an archaeological artefact from the 20th century. You can see a large red wheel and a silver shape, on this silver shape/object you can see two hands that are coming together with a circle between them, this gives me the impression that it represents unity and community. The located of this sculpture, being in the middle of a field, helps viewers/ passers by to focus on the sculpture as there is nothing surrounding it.
Old Wiltshire Horn by Jon Buck Old Wiltshire Horn was Created by Jon Buck, it was Installed in 1989 and is Made out of Bronze. It was commissioned by Thamesdown Borough Council through the Percent for Art Policy and Was funded by Trencherwood Homes (Western) Ltd. The ram is situated on the site of the old livestock market, this helps to remember what once took place in this particular area within Swindon. The use of Bronze as the material is efficient as this material is weather proof and will last long periods of times. The ram is stood facing the road, this makes it look as if it is looking over the road and watching what is going on. The way that it is stood on all four legs helps to imply that it is ready to go and is on the brink of movement. It also gives viewers the impression that this ram is realistic and gives it a life-like effect. The simple detail on the ram helps to enhance the main meaning behind the sculpture itself.
Cow by Tom Gleeson Cow by Tom Gleeson was installed in 1987 and is made out of welded steel, which is a weather proof material. It was located in the grounds of Princess Margaret Hospital, Swindon. It was purchased by Southern Arts and Allied Dunbar plc from the popular exhibition in Theatre Square. The Princess Margaret Hospital has since been demolished, replaced by the Angel Ridge housing development. The sculpture has been relocated to the Great Western Hospital, Wiltshire. You can see that this sculpture has been made up of many individual pieces of metal, these individual pieces have then been put together to create this final sculpture. The cow has been created so that it looks as if it is eating the grass in front of it, this helps it to look realistic. This piece of public art is in proportion and is also quite life-like. The back legs appear larger than the front legs, this is to help to support the sculpture and the frame.
The Watchers by Carleton Attwood The Watchers by Carleton Attwood was installed in front of the Village Tavern pub, Toothill in 1982. This sculpture is made out of cement fondue, this enables it to be weather-proof, this is essential due to the sculpture being installed outdoors. The Watchers was funded by R.S. McColl and E.H. Bradley Building Products Ltd. This sculpture represents guardian figures looking over the community, this helps to encourage the community to get involved with art. It also helps to bring the community together, which is one purpose of public art.
In the sculpture you are able to see three different sized people, this represents the idea of family and different generations. It also helps to create various levels of the sculpture, which gives viewers more to look at as well as adding more detail to the sculpture itself. The cloaks over all the figures also helps to link them/ bring them all together.
The Great Blondinis by John Clinch The Great Blondinis were an acrobatic troupe who performed at circuses in Swindon in the 1920’s. This statue was designed to symbolise the gathering of people for fairs, festivals and trade. John Clinch, a nationally renowned sculptor was commissioned to create this statue more than 20 years ago by the then Thamesdown Council. Using the last pieces of metal cast from the former railway works. He also created another famous Swindon statue, the 1950s film star Diana Dors at the Shaw Ridge Leisure Complex. This statue was originally located in Wharf Green, Town centre, before being moved to St. Marks recreational ground. Local artist Tim Carroll has now restored the artwork for the new site. This statue of the Great Blondinis was created in the 1980s and is 17 foot high and consists of a circus ball as the base with a male performer balancing on top of it, then a female performer is stood on his shoulders, she is holding a parasol.
Gorilla by Tom Gleeson This sculpture is of a seated Gorilla who looks as if it is smiling, it also has an out of proportion body. As the head is very small compared to the long arms and legs, the hands are also extremely big compared to the head of the Gorilla. To show gorillas muscles and their strength Tom Gleeson has carved in tonal areas on the chest of the Gorilla. This shows the power of gorillas and also portrays their realistic appearance.
Gorilla by Tom Gleeson is a welded steel sculpture. It was installed in Queens Park, Swindon in 1994, it was purchased by Thamesdown Borough Council following an exhibition in the Theatre Square in the mid 1980s. Thamesdown Borough Council purchased many pieces of public art to locate within Swindon, this helped to give the community pieces of art to look out/ view. This also enabled Swindon to create a public art trail to create a fun activity for many people. These pieces of public art also helped to bring communities and areas of Swindon together, as it gives a meaning to areas and also provides areas with public art that is well-known/ remembered.
The hands and feet on this gorilla have also been enlarged by the sculptor, this also implies the idea of the strength of Gorillas. It implies that they have a lot more force and power than humans do, due to their enormous size and their build. The location of this piece of public art, Queens Park, is also in the centre of Swindon therefore it is accessible for many people. The material (welded steel) suits its surroundings as it is weather resistant and also fits in with its surroundings, this will help it to last for a longer period of time. The screenshot on the right is of the plaque that is located near this sculpture, it identifies the name of the art piece, who made it and what it is made from. It also stated how it was purchased and who by. This helps any people who are viewing this sculpture to be able to find out key information about this piece of public art.
For the eyes the gorilla has deep recesses into his face, these are darker than the rest of his face which gives the effect of eyes. The nose is also an indent in his face, but these indents are smaller due to this facial feature being different sizes. The mouth of the gorilla has been created so that it is open, as this then gives the sculpture a realistic effect. It has an open mouth where there is empty space, this is realistic.
Wish-Hounds by Lou Hamilton Wish-Hounds has many other names, one of these is Yeth. The word ‘wish’ is from a Sussex word meaning marsh. Ghostly black dogs, usually with glowing red eyes, have been reported for hundreds of years, these are often seen in a ‘marsh’, reports probably date back to the mists of time. Wish-Hounds are generally linked to Satan, said to be his pets, they are known to hunt the souls of unbaptised babies. It is generally reckoned not to be a good thing to meet one, therefore when this sculpture was first placed in Croft Wood there were protests from some local Christians, who felt that this was pagan imagery and therefore, undesirable.
The three Wish-Hounds can either be viewed as three separate dogs that are in a row, leaping one after the other. They can also be viewed as one, as it appears that Lou Hamilton has conjoined the dogs to represent one dog, to show the movement of the dog. This helps to create creatures that look like they have been captured during movement, it enhances the effect of the wish-hounds and their meaning. The different level stands help to link the three wish-hounds together as well as making them appear at different heights to differentiate to movement and the appearance of the sculpture. The sculpture herself has written a poem, the last two lines of which read: They are the Guardians of the Earth’s secret; Wish-Hounds of the Old Land. This line of the poem by the sculpture mentions the ‘wish-hounds’ in which she based her sculpture upon. She has described them as being ‘guardians of the earth’s secret’, this makes you believe that wish-hounds are strong and important creatures and have a meaning to being on earth. It suggests that they are important when it comes to the earth itself and the truth behind it.
Wish-Hounds by Lou Hamilton was created in 1993, it has been created using powder coated scrap metal, concrete lettering and earthworks. It is located in Croft Wood, a public area near the Nationwide Building Society’s cricket ground in Swindon. Viewing the three black dogs from different angles is quite intriguing as their positions appear to change according to the angle from which they are viewed.
This plaque that is found near the sculpture states what the sculpture is made of and the details about the sculpture itself. It states when the sculpture was unveiled and who it is supported by etc. It also says how it was commissioned by Thamesdown Borough Council as part of their art scheme. Wish-hounds, as a piece of public art, makes viewers think into more detail about what the creatures actually represent and what the meaning behind them is. The height of the wish-hounds gives viewers a new perspective of how they look at the piece of art, this then gives them a different view of the sculpture itself. The lights at the base of the sculpture that are lit up at night, help to enhance the contrast of the sculpture, as well as enhancing the visual effect of the sculpture. It lightens the sculpture and then allows people to view this piece of public art at all hours, rather than set hours.
The Great Blondinis by John Clinch This sculpture was created at least 20 years ago, The Great Blondinis helped to bring a sense of fun to statues, due to its bright colours and lively positioning. The idea for the statue came from the public itself rather than John Clinch, he asked the public what they were looking for in the statue and gathered their ideas, he took these ideas and came back with the idea of The Great Blondinis. The Blondinis performed at circuses in Swindon in the 1920s, the statue symbolises the gathering of people for festivals, circuses and fairs. The Blondinis have comical facial expressions of hope and anxiety, which appeals to the public as it makes you smile and cheers you up. The bright colours that John Clinch has used when creating this sculpture are bright and eye-caching, they also help to make this sculpture to stand out from others and makes it more distinctive. The female figure is also holding a parasol, this parasol gives her something to hold onto as well as showing of her talent of being able to balance. The positioning of the figures in this sculpture symbolises their job of being an acrobatic troupe who performed at circuses. The Great Blondinis by John Clinch was created using the remaining pieces of metal cast from the Great Western Railway Works in Swindon. It was originally located in Wharf Green, Brunel Centre, Swindon where it was abused my graffiti. Therefore it was moved to St. Marks recreational ground, Swindon, Tim Carol renovated the statue before it was moved so that it looks visually appealing for the public again.
There vibrant outfits help them to stand out to the public and make them joyful. You are able to see many natural bends in the figures that help to show their balancing and contrast between straight and bent features of the body. The knees of both figures are bent, as well as the male figures arms being bent to be able to support the female figure.
The female figure on top of the males shoulders has her arms spread out to help keep her balance, you are able to see a glimpse of concentration on her face as she does this. The male figure is trying to balance on the ball as well as trying to hold the female figures on his shoulders. This sculpture captures the Blondinis skills and talent. The sculpture is vertically tall, this helps to show the heights to what acrobats have to go to, to be able to achieve goals and to be able to participate in circuses and shows.
John Clinch John Clinch was born at Folkestone, Kent, he studied fine Art at Kingston School of Art, and also sculpture at the Royal College of art. John Clinch has received many awards some of these include: - Sir Richard Sainsbury Scholarship in 1962. - The winner of the Arts Council Major Award in 1979. - In 1989 he received the Welsh Arts Council Travel Award He has participated in many group exhibitions since 1960 to show his work, he also held his first one-man show in 1982. John Clinch has created various pieces of art, two sculptures that are located in Swindon are The Great Blondinis and Diana Dors. These are both large upright statues that stand out to the public. These are located in different areas of Swindon to help his work to be displayed in a wider radius. The Great Blondinis is located in St. Marks recreational ground, and Diana Dors is located in Shaw Leisure Park, West Swindon.
Henry Moore Henry Moore was born in July 1898, Castleford, Yorkshire and died August 1986, Much Hadham. He was an English sculptor and artists, he was best known for his semi-abstract monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art. He is acknowledged as one of the greatest sculptors of the 20th century and most influential public sculptor of the time. By the 1930’s Henry Moore was already recognised as the leading avant-garde sculptor in England. Over the years he moved onto producing his work by using modelling and also casting using the lost wax process. The War Artists Advisory Committee became aware of this, therefore Moore was commissioned to make larger and more finished versions. In 1948 he won the International Sculpture Prize at the Venice Biennale, after this he was then commissioned from all over the world.
Henry Moore, Reclining Figure, 1969-1970 This statue is located in the Lola Beer Ebner sculpture garden at the entrance of the Tel Avive Museum Of Art. This sculpture can be viewed as an abstraction of a human figure, two legs are visible, as well as the arm that the figure is resting on. The second arm is raised in the air, but there is no evidence of a face which could suggest that this woman has a hidden identity. There are visibly raised areas on the chest which suggests that she has breasts, again suggesting she’s a woman.
Henry Moore, Reclining Figure: Festival, 1949-1951 Reclining Figure: Festival is a bronze sculpture that was commissioned by the Arts Council in 1949 for the Festival Of Britain in 1951. This sculpture can be viewed as an abstraction of a female human figure, resting on both arms. This figure has a small head which is out of proportion to the rest of the body. Henry Moore, King and Queen, 1957 King and Queen is a bronze sculpture that was designed in 1952. It depicts two figures, one male and one female that are seated beside each other on a bench. Many casts were made in 1953, and one further cast was made in 1957. Moore made a maquette in 1952, and the first full-size cast was commissioned for the Middelheim Museum in Antwerp. Another cast was made for the Tate Gallery in 1957. Several casts were made after this. Henry Moore, Large Interior Form, 1953-54 Large Interior Form is a bronze sculpture that is located outside of the Art Institute Of Chicago building. This sculpture was produced as one of six, which was first created as part of a larger work in the 1950s, and only cast as a separate work from 1981 onwards. The way that this human-like figure is standing suggests that it is superior and is above everyone else, due to the height of this sculpture.
Modernism In the century Modernism started to take place were existing values for this time were threatened by cultural and political changes in Western society. During this period painters, writers and sculptors rejected the idea of ‘traditional’ forms of art and literature, therefore they looked into new ways of representing the fast-moving, fragmented, ever-changing world around them. 20th
The Bethnal Green Tube Shelter Disaster The Bethnal Green Tube Shelter Disaster took place on the evening of March 3rd, 1943. Due to the rush of people heading towards the stations bomb shelter in the East End of London 173 people died (27 men, 84 woman and 62 children), as a result of the panicstricken crowds of people that were trying to enter the shelter. A further 62 people were taken to hospital, it was reported that the woman who fell first had survived, but her child did not. This was known as the deadliest civilian incident of WW2 as no bomb actually struck, therefore there were no casualties because of the bomb itself. This shelter was situated within a densely populated urban area, to accommodate a lot of these people this shelter sometimes held up to 7,000 people and contained 5,000 bunks.
Henry Moore, Shelter scene bunks and sleepers, 1941 Shelter scene bunks and sleepers by Henry Moore was created in 1941 using watercolour, gouache, ink and chalk on paper. Henry Moore was an official war artists, he created many drawings and paintings of people during the times of the war. The draped seated woman, the “Old Flo” is thought to represent females within WW2 waiting in the bomb shelters. Moore believed that the drapery helped towards creating the shape of a figure that is more expressive as well as it appearing more sculptural. The darker colours within the art piece help to portray the emotions that would have been present at this time, as everyone would have been; worried, upset, frightened as well as many more feelings/ emotions. This painting helps to show the viewers how life would have been for the people during the times of the war and what they had to go through. Henry Moore uses lines to create and features and forms, he also used this method of lines when creating sculptures. You are able to see this within this painting on all of the figures, this method is also visible in the “Old Flo”. He has used it on this sculpture to create texture and depth, it also helps towards making the sculpture look more realistic and life-like. The use of the lines also contributes towards certain bodily features being more prominent and visible.
Henry Moore, Maquette for Figure on Steps, 1956 Maquette for Figure on Steps was created by Henry Moore in 1956 and was made using bronze, it was an edition of ten. This sculpture is a practice model for a much larger outdoor sculpture.
The figures head looks past her left shoulder into the distance, it gives the impression that she is looking into the distance to seek something more. It is as if she is waiting for something better to come along, for a better future.
This sculpture consists of a figure that is positions on or against an architectural feature, while the folds in the drapery show the influence of ancient Greek sculpture on Moore’s work at the time.
She wears a sleeveless, knee length dress, the front of which is crinkled and clings to her body. He has used this crinkled technique to create texture and depth, it also helps towards making the sculpture look more realistic and life-like.
Moore has arranged the body so that it is on a diagonal slant, this is created by the figure sitting near the top of the flight of steps and faces forward while her legs are extended to the right. Her feet are in a diagonal line across the woman’s body to the left shoulder. The diagonal composition is exaggerated by the irregular proportions of the figures body, in particular the thighs, which are longer than the torso. Moore has given this figure has a distinctive block-head that is out of proportion from the rest of the body. This gives the impression that she is small within herself, as if she doesn’t want to be there and longs for a better life. The use of lines on the dress to create texture and depth is current in this sculpture, but also refers to the “Shelter scene bunks and sleeps” by Henry Moore. As he also used the use of lines in this art piece to help make the bodily shape more prominent, the body then becomes more visible to the viewer. The way that this figure is leaning on the centre of the steps suggests that she is holding on for stability, as if she needs a stable life.
Her left leg is tucked underneath the right, but they don’t touch. Toes have been engraved by short, simplistic lines.
The back of the figure is heavily textured, demonstrating how Moore applied smears of plaster to the original model, before the bronze was cast.
Much of her weight is placed on her left hip and buttock, with the result that her right hip and leg are slightly higher. Her arms are very thin compared to the rest of her body, but they do manage to support her body as she is leaning on her arms. Her left shoulder is raised a little bit higher than the right, this emphasises the diagonal body.
Henry Moore, Draped Seated Woman, 1958 Henry Moore was commissioned to create a public sculpture and memorial of the “Bethnal Green Tube Shelter Disaster” in 1958. This sculpture is made out of bronze so that it is suitable for the outdoors, so the public are able to view it at all possible times. It is located in the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, where it stands out among the natural, green countryside. The face of the woman is simplified which makes you wonder how she is feeling and what her facial expressions show. Her blank expression emphasises the shape and angle of her body. She is leaning and putting most of her weight on her left arm, whereas her right arm is just supporting her positioning. Lighter and darker areas of this Bronze sculpture are created by Moore using various acids, he does this by hand which shows to what lengths Moore goes to when creating his artwork. The colours on the base of the sculpture help to link it to the outside environment, this helps to make the sculpture look more natural and as if it belongs in this location. Rather than looking out of place and ruining the landscape. She is placed seated in the gap between two blocks of plinth, this suggests that the base is supporting her through the hard times that woman went through during the Bethnal Green Tube Shelter Disaster. Due to this disaster many people ere defenceless and weak, this can be shown by the figures small head as it is as if she feels small herself. Moore has created an abstract female, you are able to tell that it is a female due to her bodily features. He might have created an abstract female so that he could portray their feelings and emotions through the abstract forms, so that it makes the viewers look deeper into the meaning of the sculpture. Therefore you have to look beneath the surface to be able to discover the true effects and emotions of woman from the Bethnal Green Tube Shelter Disaster. As many people were effected during this time, due to the loss of lives and also the emotions.
The left leg is slightly behind the right leg to emphasise the diagonal body. You are also able to see that the toes don’t have much detail, they are just simple lines. Moore has once again used the use of lines, as this helps to add texture to the sculpture as well as helping to emphasise the shape of the woman’s body/ figure. I makes it more realistic and life-like. The head of this figure is out of proportion to the rest of the body, the length of the neck also emphasises this. This makes you look at the size of the body itself. The pose that Moore has created this woman to be in, suggests movement. The back to front “Z” shows how her legs are bent one way and her shoulders are leaning a different way, this shows that she is in the process of moving/ leaning towards something. The curved body emphasis how the woman is leaning on her left arm, putting all of her weight on it.
Who actually owns the Old Flo by Henry Moore? The sculpture “Draped Seated Woman” by Henry Moore in 1958 was given to the Stifford Estate in the East End at a discounted price, due to their financial situation at the time. Henry Moore sold “Old Flo” to Tower Hamlets Council for £6000 in 1960. But is has been on loan to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park for the past 18 years. It was initially moved due to the demolition of the Stifford estate, it was awaiting to be replaced by low brick houses. Draped Seated Woman, also known as Old Flo, was installed on the Stifford estate with the help of public money in 1962. This act represented an idea that art could raise the lives of people in the poorest places, and nothing was too good for them. Then in 1997 she was moved to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park for her own safety, due to local children inflicting damage on her robust surface. The park repaired and cleaned her, before putting her on public display. The Yorkshire Sculpture Park is a pleasant and well-visited place, but if the Old Flo stays there, an important part of the intentions of giving her to East London is lost. Eighteenth months ago Conservative councillor Tim Archer heard about Old Flo, and started to campaign to bring her back. There are many views on whether to sell the Old Flo or not, many people have made their opinions clear and heard. But now the London Borough of Bromley has written to Tower Hamlets to say it owns it. It said the sculpture remained the property of the GLC until its dissolution in 1985 and was then transferred to Bromley. Stephen Carr, leader of Bromley Council, said: "This sculpture must remain in public ownership which is line with the original principles of Henry Moore himself. "The idea that selling this internationally recognised sculpture will somehow tackle the financial situation facing Tower Hamlets is flawed. Local authorities need to face financial reality and look at the longer-term challenges. "The money raised would not protect frontline services for very long and would stop future generations appreciating this national treasure." Leading figures from the art world such as film director Danny Boyle, Henry Moore's daughter Mary and Tate boss Sir Nicholas Serota oppose the sale. London Mayor Boris Johnson has also urged Tower Hamlets to reconsider. Stephen Deuchar, director of the Art Fund, said Bromley's evidence should stop "Tower Hamlets's cavalier plans" going ahead. Tower Hamlets Council has acknowledged it was a tough decision but one which was made due to the "massive Government cuts we are facing". A spokeswoman for Tower Hamlets council said it had received a letter from Bromley disputing the statue's ownership, but said it did not "have any right to the asset". She said: "Bromley maintain in their letter that the asset was acquired for Londoners as a whole. However, we have checked the minutes of the LCC General Purposes Committee for May 15 1962 which authorised the purchase and these specifically state that the statue was 'to be sited in Stifford Estate (Stepney)‘.
The Old Flo for sale? Eighteenth months ago Conservative councillor Tim Archer heard about Old Flo, and started to campaign to bring her back. He held an online poll, the outcome showed that 80% said she should return, with the next most popular option being to sell her and spend the proceeds on affordable housing. For the council the main obstacle was insurance. Citing the damage inflicted when she was last in the borough, they stated, without giving exact figures, that the costs would be prohibitive. It probably didn't help that, in the last few years, there have been some thefts of large bronzes for their scrap value. There are many different opinions on whether the Old Flo should be allowed to be put up for sale or not, both opinions whether to sell the sculpture or to return it to the original East London estate. The following shows this:
For being sold: - Lillian Jenkins, Shoreditch said “My opinion of Old Flo is a statue that I can walk past and not give a second glance to. I've lived in the East End all my life and I don’t know the history of Old Flo. Well my opinion if the statue was sold, it should go to the London hospital – maybe have a ward called the Old Flo ward”. - Michel Paul, Shoreditch said “Actually I don’t mind the sale if the money goes to good use – for the school, for the hospital”. - Ernest Wright, Stepney said “I mean I’ve seen the statue in reality, because I live quite near where it was. So, and I still don’t, as I look at it, I still don’t really see what he – the face is not human and the bodies supposed to be human, so I just don’t see – what's it really about?
What I believe: I have views for both selling the Old Flo and against selling the Old Flo, but overall I believe that Old Flo should not be sold as this is a part of the East Ends history and heritage. Old Flo also enables to bring the community together as well as brightening it up. Old Flo was supposed to be for the public, therefore the public should be able to take the rightful ownership of her so that she is able to stay in this area. Even though not everyone knows what the purpose of the Old Flo is or the story behind her, many people still do, and this statue has inspired many people to be involved in art.
Against being sold: - John Biggs, mayor of East London, said: “I believe that it belongs to the people of east London and should be available locally for public enjoyment.” - Anthony Chircop said “I believe that Old Flo should stay. I don’t think it should be sold. I grew up with it; it introduced me as a child to the outside world of art, sculpture. Henry Moore is someone who I adore, he actually inspired me to get into art and I have been enjoying it over many, many decades, and still enjoy it now, and I would be really upset if it was sold”. - Patrick Brill, better known as “Bob and Roberta Smith” is a British contemporary artist, writer, author, musician, art education promoter and keynote speaker. He is known for his “slogan” art. The artist Bob and Roberta Smith, accompanied by friends and artists, led a flash mob-style protest today outside the headquarters of Tower Hamlets council. He is against the idea of the Old Flo being sold for as high as £20 million. The flash mob wore green dresses and sat in the same position as Old Flo itself, this was to make their protest look more effective. Smith said: “Hitler destroyed the East End, Henry Moore, with others, rebuilt it and now a council who seem ignorant of the area’s less recent past is selling off its principle monument to peace. For me it is like smashing up a war memorial.”
Save Old Flo posters Bob and Roberta Smith creates many posters that are vibrantly coloured so that they attract the viewers attention. He also uses bold lettering so that his message that is being portrayed in the poster is more likely to go across to viewers. The messages within his posters are both simple and short, and long but easy to understand, this variety makes the viewers concentrate on what he has to say. As well as this he uses a range of sized lettering so that certain words are more prominent, which makes certain words more powerful and meaningful. The following posters are some examples of the posters that they have created:
My Save Old Flo posters After looking at Bob and Roberta’s Save Old Flo posters, I decided to create my own Save Old Flo posters on photoshop. To add my own twist rather than copying exactly what Bob and Roberta did, I created my posters in black and white to emphasise the drama and upset of the proposal of the sale of Old Flo.
For this poster I added an image of Old Flo’s head and shoulders, I then added a simple black title, but changed the text style so that it looked more professional and attractive. I like this poster as it stands out to the eye as well as being simple.
This Old Flo poster contains more information, as I wanted to express to the viewer details about what this campaign is about. I did a black background behind the title so that the title visually stands out and attracts the viewers attention.
For this poster I decided to give it a dark theme, I liked this as it represents the dismal topic. I also like how I managed to overlay the photos as this makes you concentrate on the front photo but you are still able to focus on the back photo.
For this poster I used a simple white background then added a title and an image, as this makes you concentrate on the title and image due to the contrast of colours between the black and white. This is similar to the first poster, but I have slightly changed it.
Arc De Triomphe The building of the Art De Triomphe begun in 1806 and was completed in 1833-36, it is one of the most famous monuments in Paris, and is located in the centre of the ‘Place Charles de Gaulle’. The monument is large scale and stands 50 metres (164 ft) in height, 45 m (148 ft) wide and 22 m (72 ft) deep.
Facts and history about this monument The Arc de Triomphe is built on such a large scale that, three weeks after the Paris victory parade in, Charles Godefroy flew his Nieuport biplane through it, with the event captured on newsreel.
The Arc is located on the right bank of the Seine at the centre of a dodecagonal configuration of twelve radiating avenues.
Laying the foundations alone took two years and, in 1810, when Napoleon entered Paris from the west with his bride Archduchess Marie-Louise of Austria, he had a wooden mock-up of the completed arch constructed.
The architect, Jean Chalgrin, died in 1811 and the work was taken over by Jean-Nicolas Huyot.
During the Bourbon Restoration, construction was halted and it would not be completed until the reign of King Louis-Philippe, between 1833 and 1836, by the architects Goust, then Huyot, under the direction of Héricart de Thury.
Following its construction, the Arc de Triomphe became the rallying point of French troops parading after successful military campaigns and for the annual Bastille Day Military Parade.
It was the tallest triumphal arch in existence until the completion of the Monumento a la Revolución in Mexico City in 1938, which is 67 metres (220 ft) high. The Arch of Triumph in Pyongyang, completed in 1982, is modelled on the Arc de Triomphe and is slightly taller at 60 m (197 ft).
Famous victory marches around or under the Arc have included the Germans in 1871, the French in 1919, the Germans in 1940, and the French and Allies in 1944 and 1945.
It was commissioned in 1806 after the victory at Austerlitz by Emperor Napoleon at the peak of his fortunes.
A United States postage stamp of 1945 shows the Arc de Triomphe in the background.
By the early 1960s, the monument had grown very blackened from coal soot and automobile exhaust, and during 1965–1966 it was cleaned through bleaching. This was to help restore it back to its original state.
Who wanted the Arc De Triomphe to be built and why? The Arc de Triomphe was built between 1806 and 1836. It was commissioned by Napoleon, who wanted to honour the victories of the French troops, The Grande Armee, the name of the French army at that time, after the Battle of Austerlitz. The names of 128 battles of the first French Republic and Napoleon's Empire are written on the white walls under the vault together with the names of the generals who took part in them. The Grande Armee had conquered most of Europe and was then considered invincible. After his Austerlitz victory in 1805, Napoleon said to his soldiers : "You will return home through archs of triumph". Reaching almost 30 meters in height, the Arc de Triomphe is encircled by a busy, car-filled roundabout. Visitors can access the monument through an underground tunnel. It is possible to make the long climb to the top from inside the Arc de Triomphe. It was commissioned by Napoleon, a French Emperor, at the peak of his fortunes. The construction had been stopped between 1814 (abdication of Napoleon) and 1826. The Arc de Triomphe costed 9.3 million French francs, a gigantic amount of money at that time. The construction of Arc de Triomphe was completed in 1836, long after Napoleon's death in 1821. Napoleon never got to see the finished Arc De Triomphe as it wasn’t completed until 1836, 15 years after his death. When he married second wife Marie Louise of Austria, he had a wooden replica of the Arc made so that the two of them could pass through it as they entered Paris as a married couple. When Napoleon abdicated in 1814, construction on the Arc De Triomphe stopped for a few years, it resumed in 1826. Although he had already been dead nearly 20 years, Napoleon finally got to pass through the completed Arc in 1840 when his body was moved to its final resting place.
French Timeline 1789-92 The Revolution the end of Louis XVI 1804-1815 Napoleon I Empire 1815-48 Restored Monarchy- Bourbon Dynasty was restored to the French throne. 1814-1824 Louis XVIII 1824-1830 Charles X-tyrannaical brother of the beheaded Louis XVI- 1830 revolution 1830-1848 Louis-Philippe I, the Citizen King- a republican. 1848 Revolution, King Louis-Phillipe abdicated. Second Republic Louis Napoleon elected president 1851 Coup d’Etat Louis Napoleon takes over as Emperor 1852 Napoleon III, proclaims the Second Empire, Hausmannisation starts 1870 France declares war on Prussia: The Franco Prussian war, collapse of Second Empire, declaration of Third Empire. Paris besieged by the Prussians 1871 Paris surrenders, peace treaty agreed. 1873 Prussian army of occupation leaves French territory. Elections for president. 1879 Elections, parliament returns, state policy admires plein air painting and modern life subjects (impressionism becomes popular).
The Revolution 1789-92, Napoleonic Empire,1804-1815, Restored Monarchy1815-48, Second Empire, 1852 – 1870, Third Republic, 1870 - 1914
About the Arc De Triomphe In 1806, architect Jean-Francois-Therese Chalgrin was given the task of finding the best possible location for the arch. He studied several different options and on May 9th, Napoleon agreed to the site: Place de l’Etoile. On May 11th 1806, the project was given to trusted architects Chalgrin and Jean-Arnaud Raymond. On August 15th, 1806 the first stone was laid to coincide with Napoleon’s birthday. The arch was commissioned by Napoleon as a tribute to the French army, until it stopped after the defeat of Napoleon. In 1833 work on the Arc De Triomphe started again. In 1836 it was completed under the new King Louis-Philippe and his minister of the interior, Adolphe Thiers. The arch was a way of illustrating the new government’s efforts at national unity and reconciliation.
Arch of Constantine, marble, 312-315 ad, Rome. The Arch of Constantine is a triumphal arch in Rome, that is situated between the Colosseum and the Palatine Hill. It was built by the Roman Senate to commemorate Constantine I’s victory over Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge on October 28,312. The Arc De Triomphe is based on monumental arches like this one as they display power and authority. The Arch is 21m high, 25.9m wide and 7.4m deep. It has three archways, the central one being 11.5m high and 6.5m wide, the two smaller archways are 7.4m high and 3.4m wide. There is a staircase in the thickness of the arch which can be entered from a door at some height from the ground, in the end towards the Palatine hill. It has been suggested that the lower part of the arch is re-used from an older monument, probably from the times of the emperor Hadrian.
The arch is heavily decorated with parts of older monuments.
During the middle ages, the Arch of Constantine was used as one of the family strongholds of ancient Rome.
One explanation for this could be that due to the short period of time that it had to be built in, they did not have time to create new artwork therefore they used existing art work.
Restoration work was carried out on this arch in the 18th century, the last excavations took place in the late 1990s, just before the Great Jubilee in 2000.
Another explanation could be that it is often suggested that the Romans of the 4th century lacked the artistic skill to produce acceptable artwork, so they demolished various ancient buildings to obtain their contemporary monuments.
The arch served as the finish line for the marathon athletic event for the 1960 summer Olympics.
Therefore this also could have been why they incorporated existing artwork into this monument.
In the central archway there is one large panel of Trajan’s Dacian War on each wall. Inside the lateral archways there are eight portraits busts, but they are no longer identifiable due to them being destroyed and weathered at a high rate. The general layout of the main facade is identical on both sides of the arch. It is divided by four columns of Corinthian order made of Numidian yellow marble, one has been transferred into the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano and was replaced by a white marble column. The columns stand on bases showing victory figures on front, and captured barbarians and Roman soldiers on the sides. The spandrels of the main archway are decorated with reliefs depicting victory figures with trophies, those of the smaller archways show river gods. Column bases and spandrel reliefs are from the times of Constantine. Above each lateral archway are pairs of round reliefs dated to the times of Emperor Hadrian. They show scenes of hunting and sacrificing: (north side, left to right) hunt of a boar, sacrifice to Apollo, hunt of a lion, sacrifice to Hercules, (south side, left to right) departure for the hunt, sacrifice to Silvanus, hunt of a bear, sacrifice to Diana. The main artwork on the arch is from the time of Constantine is the "historical" relief frieze running around the monument under the round panels, one strip above each lateral archway and at the small sides of the arch. These reliefs depict scenes from the Italian campaign of Constantine against Maxentius which was the reason for the construction of the monument.
Sculptures represented in the Arc De Triomphe The major sculptors of France are represented in the sculpture of the Arc de Triomphe, namely Cortot, Rude, Étex, Pradier and Lemaire. There are many more sculptures that have other meanings for various reasons, but these are the main sculptures that are represented in this monument.
Francois Rude: ‘La Marsellaise’, 1833, Stone, h 13m Arc de Triomphe La Marseillaise, also known as ‘The departure of the Volunteers of 1792’, by Rude is one of the most famous of the four reliefs on the faces of the arch. La Marseillaise depicts the French people rallying against enemies from abroad, this was personal to Francois Rude as his own father had been one of these volunteers.
Due to the frontal relief of this sculpture, the viewer is expected to stand in a certain position to get the full meaning. The viewer is then able to get the visual impact from the sculpture that Francois Rude was trying to create. La Marsellaise by Francois Rude is an example of a public sculpture as everyone is able to view it, and it has an impact on the community. This relates back to my early research into public art and sculptures.
The citizens in the sculpture are both nude and in classical armour, they have caused a stir due to the patriotic fervour by the Roman goddess of war, Bellona, she can also been seen as a role of Liberty. The same year as the departure of the volunteers, the French national anthem was written, the ‘La Marseillaise; which is the name for this particular grouping of figures.
The figure to the right of the sculpture, also shown in the close-up on the right, has facial expressions that help to portray his emotions. His facial expressions look petrified and very scared, he also looks wary of his surroundings and the movement of the other figures. Him wearing a hat suggests to me that he needs it for some kind of protection.
This romantic sculpture contains intense exaggerated movement, this helps to show the violent motion of the figures. The icon like figure holds all of the other figures in place, this suggests that it is an important figure for the other figures and may symbolise something much larger, such as Liberty. The overlapping of the bodies gives the sculpture the feeling of movement, it also shows their unity, as these volunteers have joined together to work as one. The shape of this sculpture appears to have been built in a pyramid shape, this could show the hierarchy of the figures, which backs-up my idea of the figure at the top being important. Romanticism appears to be represented in this sculpture by the violence of the figure and their compressed, densely packed composition.
This central figure looks extremely scared and mortified with what is going on, as he cannot control his surroundings. The vast amount of detail on his clothing and appearance helps to portray a sense of realism within the sculpture. This then helps viewers to feel the full effect of this sculpture. This figure located at the top of the sculpture has facial expressions showing fear and power, as well as her anger. It suggests that she has been enraged by something/someone.
This figure that is bending down looks as if he is trying to protect himself and duck away from the violence and emotions that is happening around him. His left leg has been created so that it is positioned slightly forward, this helps to show that he is putting pressure on this leg to lean forward, showing a sense of balance and positioning.
Francois Rude: ‘La Marsellaise’, 1833, Stone, h 13m Arc de Triomphe
Antonio Canova; ‘Cupid and Psyche’, 1787
Romanticism vs Neoclassicism
What is Romanticism in sculpture? Romanticism was a literary movement that swept through virtually every country of Europe, the United States, and Latin America that lasted from about 1750 to 1870. However, the Romantic Movement did not reach France until the1820's. The aim of Romanticism was to capture revolt against an established order of things, against rules and laws. It praised imagination over reason, emotions over logic, and intuition over. Romantic sculpture be divided into works that concern the human world and natural world, the leading sculptors of each type were Rude and Barye. La Marsellaise is a sculpture based on Romanticism that Francois Rude made out of stone. This sculpture has shows the vivid and sharp movements of the figures, which implies their power and strength. The viscous and striking facial expressions and emotions reiterate the link to horror and the idea of Romanticism, the figures look extremely angry within this sculpture. Within La Marsellaise you are able to see intense exaggerated emotions which shows the fury and the resent of the figures. The body movement and positioning of La Marsellaise is very striking as it shows their hardiness and toughness and makes opposing people scared, and gives the impression that they're unbeaten.
What is Neoclassicism in sculpture? The most important Neoclassical sculptors were the Italian Antonio Canova and the Dane Bertel Thorvaldsen.3 Canova's most famous work may be ‘Psyche Awakened by Cupid's Kiss’; he also produced heroic statues of Napoleon. Neoclassical sculptures are very elegant and pleasant to look at and are often made out of marble rather than stone.
Cupid and Psyche is a Neoclassical sculpture that Antonio Canova made out of white marble. This sculpture is refined, portrays emotions and feelings as well as showing the truth, this makes this sculpture a lot more relaxed and peaceful. This sculpture shows a harmonious balance between the spiritual and the sensual, with helps to create a calm and pleasant atmosphere. This harmonious sculpture gives the impression that they are at peace with nature, and that they are very relaxed and laid back. You can see the figures close relationship by the way their arms are intertwined and holding each other. The close face-to-face contact shows that they have strong feeling and that they are looking deep into each others eyes, into their hearts.
Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux: ‘Ugolino and His Sons’, modelled ca. plaster, 1860–61, marble 1865–67. H. 195.6 cm large scale In this close-up of Ugolino’s face, you are able to the clear expression of fear and distress that he is currently experiencing.
This piece is by Carpeaux and is a ‘Study for the Modelling Stand of the Ugolino Group’, which was created in 1860 using pen and brown ink. He created this so that he was able to visualise what it may actually look like once created.
This marble version was made by the practitioner Bernard under Carpeaux's supervision and completed in time for the Universal Exposition at Paris in 1867, this shows his skills and eye to detail.
This is an intensely Romantic themed sculpture due to the extreme facial expressions as well as the terrific circumstances. The rigid movement of the figures shows the desperation and the fear, due to the situation they are in. This sculpture is based on Dante and his description of the imprisonment in 1288, which led to Pisan count Ugolino della Gherardesca’s and his offspring's’ death by starvation. Carpeaux has captured the moment when Ugolino, condemned to die of starvation, gives into the temptation of devouring his children and grandchildren, who cry out to him. In the 13th century, Italy was beset by the strife of two parties, the Ghibellines and the Guelphs. While the conflict was local and personal in origin, the parties had come to be associated with the two universal powers: the Ghibellines sided with the Emperor and his rule of Italy, while the Guelphs sided with the Pope, who supported self-governing citystates.
This sculpture above shows many features that are also present in ‘Ugolino and His Sons’, one of these is the facial features.
Ugolino was born in Pisa into the della Gherardesca family, a noble family of Germanic origins whose alliance with the Hohenstaufen Emperors had brought to prominence in Tuscany and made them the leaders of the Ghibellines in Pisa.
In March 1289, on orders of the Archbishop, who had proclaimed himself podestà, the keys were thrown into the Arno river and the prisoners left to starve. Their corpses were buried in the cloister of Saint Francis Church and remained there until 1902, when they were exhumed and transferred to the Gherardesca family chapel. In 2002, paleoanthropologist Francesco Mallegni conducted DNA testing on the recently excavated bodies of Ugolino and his children. His analysis agrees with the remains being a father, his sons and his grandsons. Additional comparison to DNA from modern day members of the Gherardesca family leave Mallegni about 98 percent sure that he has identified the remains correctly. However, the forensic analysis discredits the allegation of cannibalism. Analysis of the rib bones of the Ugolino skeleton reveals traces of magnesium, but no zinc, implying he had consumed no meat in the months before his death. Ugolino also had few remaining teeth and is believed to have been in his 70s when he was imprisoned, making it further unlikely that he could have outlived and eaten his descendants in captivity. Additionally, Mallegni notes that the putative Ugolino skull was damaged; perhaps he did not ultimately die of starvation, although malnourishment is evident.
Delacroix: ‘Liberty Leading the People’ 1830 oil on canvas large scale The Victor Hugo book/ film/ musical ‘Les Miserables’ deals with a revolution in June 1832, which came after General Maximillian’s death, a small group of around 800 tried to revolt against the King Louis-Philippe. Louis-Philippe commissioned La Marseillaise on the Arc De Triomphe, he aimed to use normal people as the figures in this piece of art. He then turned these normal people into gods, this shows their inner strength and power. He created this to show normal people that he respected them and could get along with them, he believed that they are similar. Louis-Philippe also did this to help prevent future revolutions between the normal people. In the midground of this painting you are able to see two figures standing together, these represent two people from very different social and economic positions. Here Delacroix shows how revolution unites these classes and brings them to come together against the ruling aristocracy. The man on the left represents a member of the working or lower class, and the man on the right with the top hat, waistcoat and jacket is a member of the middle class. You can see that the woman in this painting is holding the tricolour, which is the banned flag of revolution and democracy. The woman is a symbol rather than a person, her nudity symbolises democracy and the rebelling of people.
This painting ‘Liberty Leading the People’ is similar to Rude’s Marseillaise on the Arc De Triomphe. This is because they are representing revolutions and power of people on this monument, so that everyone is able to see this idea.
This painting by Delacroix is a mixture of the real, the invented and symbolism. It is visually exciting as the sharp, dark figures capture the excitement and energy of the event. The strong movement of the figures symbolises the struggle of freedom.
Romanticism also associated with political radicalism, often uses contemporary subject matter, although in a familiar semi-idealised manner.
Delacroix gave this painting a strong visual impact, this suggests optimism and the belief of the French people.
Delacroix took no part in the 1830 Revolution that toppled the Bourbons and put the July Monarchy of Louis Philippe in power.
In the foreground of this painting you are able to see two dead bodies, the dead uniformed figure on the right is a royalist soldier. Here, Delacroix shows that the enemy is vulnerable. The democracy for the French people is represented in another dying figure as he is dressed in the tricolour, and is last vision is of Liberty. The dead figure on the bottom left of the painting is dressed in a long nightshirt as his body was dragged into the street from his bed where he had been shot. Here Delacroix has aimed to enrage the viewer, he is also relating this figure to the royal troops who spread terror by murdering suspected revolutionary sympathizers in their beds and then dragging the bodies into the streets as a warning.
The Notre Dame on the right hand-side of the painting is a symbol of the King’s power.
The darkness of the painting represents the darkness of the revolution itself, this shows the struggle and the dread that people had to go through in revolutions.
He has broken the tradition of subtle modulation of colour, instead he has applied pure pigments. This creates sharp primary colours, the blues, yellows and the powerful red. This use of pigments has made the painting look more powerful, strong and forceful.
Gericault The Raft of Medusa, 1818-19, Oil on canvas, Monumental scale 491cm x 716cm What is Romanticism in sculpture? Romanticism was a literary movement that swept through virtually every country of Europe, the United States, and Latin America that lasted from about 1750 to 1870. However, the Romantic Movement did not reach France until the1820's. The aim of Romanticism was to capture revolt against an established order of things, against rules and laws. It praised imagination over reason, emotions over logic, and intuition over. Romantic sculpture be divided into works that concern the human world and natural world, the leading sculptors of each type were Rude and Barye.
This huge painting depicts the shipwreck of the Medusa in 1816, which became the focus of a major political scandal. Gericault's decision to tackle a subject of this kind proved highly controversial, as many critics believed the topic was better suited to journalism rather than art. Gericault went to extreme lengths to capture the full horror and realism of this situation. He observed the dead and the dying in a local hospital, made studies in its dissecting room, and sketched the remains of guillotined criminals. Some critics felt that he went too far, and was wallowing in morbid details, such as the corpse.
The Paris Opera House The building of The Paris Opera House begun in 1861 and was completed in 1875, it was built for the Paris Opera. It is located on the Boulevard des Capucines in Paris, the architect that created this famous building is Charles Garnier.
Facts and history about this building The Paris Opera House is a 2,013-seat opera house, which was built from 1861 to 1875 for the Paris Opera. It was originally called the Salle des Capucines, because of its location on the Boulevard des Capucines, Paris. But soon became known as the Palais Garnier, in recognition of its architect, Charles Garnier. The top tier is called the Chicken Coup and there’s no visibility of the stage from this area. This tier was mainly for the middle class people, these people did not come to see the opera, but they came to see the rich people that were there.
The house curtain was created by theatrical painters Auguste Rube and Philippe Chaperon, following Charles Garnier’s instructions. The curtain was replaced by an identical one in both 1951 and 1996.
One of the 8-ton bronze and crystal chandeliers in the auditorium contains 340 lights.
The opera house is surrounded by many banks, this is because all of the rich people who attended the opera and wanted to be noticed, wore all their expensive jewels. They picked their jewels up from their bank vaults on their way there. Several banks are known to have opened nearby and stayed open until the opera was over so that the jewels could be put away immediately after the curtain fell. Many of these banks still surround the opera house to this day, however they don’t stay open till as late.
The ceiling in the foyer is painted by Paul Baudry, it features themes from the history of music.
The vault of the Avant-Foyer is covered with mosaics of shimmering colours on a gold background, this helps to intensify the magnificence of this buildings outstanding interior.
The play of light between mirrors and windows in the Grand Foyer enhances the visual effect of the vast dimensions.
The collections of the LibraryMuseum of the Opera, also known as the national library for France, conserves three centuries of the theatre's history. The museum gallery houses a permanent exhibition of paintings, drawings, photographs and set models. After the fall of the Empire, the premises were never completed: in the staircase leading to the temporary exhibition hall, remain the massive stone blocks dating from 1870.
The seating arrangement in the auditorium was designed for the audience to be able to see what is happening, as well as them being able to be seen. This is the horseshoe-shaped “French” auditorium, in the tradition of Italian theatre.
The ceiling painted by Marc Chagall and commissioned by the Minister of Culture André Malraux was installed on September 23, 1964.
Neoclassical Architecture Neoclassism began in the early 1940’s and lasted until 1750, it co-existed with Baroque and reacted against Baroque’s showiness. It originated in Paris mainly due to the presence of French designers trained at the French Academy in Rome. It was yet another return to the Classical Orders of Greek and Roman modernity. The main characteristics from this movement include; structures, supported or decorated by columns of Doric, Ionic or Corinthian pillars, and topped with classical Renaissance domes.
Architecture 1852-1870 Political objectives made it necessary for most public buildings to adopt an architecture style which stressed continuity and associations with great reigns of the past. The need to attract royalist, and republican, support justified a variety of styles, all of which could be designated ‘modern’. Fine new public buildings could suggest that French modernization was proceeding successfully. During the Second Empire, architectural production in Paris expanded to new levels. The Second Empire had shaped and reshaped Paris more energetically than any previous regime. Its aesthetic norms, however, were developments of an older, classical tradition.
French History 1789 – The French Revolution, this did not effect the architectural style of Paris 1804-1815 – Napoleonic Empire Until 1815 – The neo-classical trend dominated After 1815 – No single fashion had the upper hand, but classicism was always accepted 1815-1848 – Restored Monarchy 1852 – Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte had declared himself Emperor Napoléon III of the Second Empire 1852-1870 – Second Empire 1870-1914 – Third Republic
This image is labelled with a lot of the names of the sculptures and figures that have been included in this massive work of art.
It sits alone in a diamond, isolating the building and emphasizing its importance in modern life. The Paris Opera House is much more richly decorated than any other building built during this time period, but it catered to the rich and those with the time to come spend time within its walls. The building served no governmental purpose, but was instead a site of leisure and pleasure, emphasised by the design. To make an economically and socially centred city, as symbolised by the ‘Opera’. New spaces that were created during the renovation encouraged the bourgeoisie to flaunt their new wealth, creating a booming economy. Due to the Opera House being completed after the end of the second Empire, Napoleon III never set foot in the Opera house but Charles Garnier made it the focus of values of the urban bourgeoisie that was around during his reign.
Haussmannisation Haussmannisation is the process of urban development. The transformation of Paris under the Second Empire is the biggest characterless even of urban history. It took place around the same time as the first surge of French industrialisation, beginning in the 1840s and lasting until the 1970s. The main emphasis was on the streets, which were driven through the centre of existing locations. This meant that thousands of demolitions had to take place to make way for this development. New streets and new buildings on this scale drastically affected the appearance of Paris, and therefore how artists reacted to it. The architectural style for buildings put up during Haussmannisation was fundamentally classical. One of the buildings that was built during this time is the Paris Opera House, which was commissioned in 1861 and was finished by 1875.
Why did Napoleon III want Haussmann to radically redesign Paris? • One reason is that he wanted to make it a suitably ‘Imperial’ capital, instead of an archaic location that had no order, that existed in 1852. • To provide better transport systems, such as; new stations, new train lines and also straight roads. • By putting in new sewerage works etc, helped towards making the city healthier. • To make an economically and socially centred city.
Before Haussmannisation Paris was composed of twisting, unpaved streets. Haussmann began the redesign process by making a topographical map of Paris. He cut and paved more than fifty unpaved boulevards, erected monuments and statues, and created the country's biggest cemetery. For the first time, movement in Paris was quick and easy. There are many motivational factors towards the modernisation of Paris, one is economic as it would promote industrialisation by making transporting of goods easier. Another is the visual appeal as more light penetrated the streets and the openness created an impression of majesty and unity. A third motivator is hygiene, as Haussmann created a new plumbing system to remove waste from the city and get rid of bad smells. A final motivator is military as the wide boulevards prevented rebels raising barricades.
Parks were based off of the English model at the centre of Paris, at Boulogne and at Vincennes. Haussmann also improved the street life by putting up more lamps and building sidewalks. This gave rise to the famous cafés and kiosks. Haussmann led the construction of the Opera House, Théâtre Nationale De L'opéra and Les Halles, the central marketplace. If it weren't for amazing leadership and freedom under the ruler, the plans to renovate Paris may have never turned into reality. Napoleon III put forth many of the ideas in rebuilding Paris, but it was Haussmann who made them come true. Due to the autocratic regime, Haussmann was able to make many large long-term loans without a difficult authorisation process.
The perspective for this building has been calculated so that when you arrive at the front of the Opera House, you are not able to see the stage house or auditorium. You can just about see the stage, which is where the main entertainment takes place.
Here you ae able to see the Corinthian paired columns, these show the magnificence of the building and the size of it.
The Emperor's wife, the Empress Eugénie, asked Garnier during construction as to whether or not the building would be built in the Greek or Roman style, to which he replied: "It is in the Napoleon III style Madame!"
The building is highly decorated with a vast amount of carved decoration, coloured tiles and also the gold statuary on the roofline. This figure on the roofline helps to show the importance and the wealth of the building and the people that go there. The use of stone makes the building feel more expensive and more sophisticated, it enables people to think highly of the building and its purpose.
Each internal part is clearly expressed on the exterior, one distinctive feature is the shape of the building as well as its own roof.
The style of the building is Neo-Baroque/ Beaux Arts. Beaux-Arts architecture is the academic neoclassical architectural style that was taught at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. The style was the result of two and a half centuries of instruction under the authority, first of the Académie royale d'architecture, then, following the Revolution, of the Architecture section of the Académie des Beaux-Arts.
Façade is divided into two levels:
The two levels of the building helps to divide the artwork and sculptures and also gives the building an additional sense of height.
This rectangular block, which is the main front of the building is the foyer of the building, the front reception.
The materials that were used during the construction of this building include; masonry and also cut stone.
Either side of the building you are able to see domes, this adds to the magnificence of this richly detailed public building.
The lower entrance level has an arcade of arches, which are covered in sculptures. The sculpture above is one of these sculptures, it is JeanBaptiste Carpeaux: ‘La Danse’. This adds to the intensity of the buildings artwork and sculptures.
The Grand Foyer stretches across the front of the whole Opera. Similar to the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, which was built for Louis 14th in 1678. Garnier said “Today, luxury is spreading, comfort is demanded everywhere”, in other words he is saying that all citizens are kings in the Second Empire, if they can afford it and also subject to the usual rules of class. The Opera House is home to the double staircase leading to the foyers and the various floors of the theatre. At the bottom of the stairs, a true theatre within the theatre, two female allegories holding torches greet spectators. Viollet-leDuc said “The auditorium seems to have been made for the staircase rather than the staircase for the auditorium”. This suggests the magnificence and the vast scale of the extraordinary double staircase. The collections of the LibraryMuseum of the Opera, is also the National Library of France, conserves three centuries of the theatre’s history. The museum gallery houses a permanent exhibition of paintings, drawings, photographs and also set models. Access to the reading room, located in the Rotunde de l’Empereur, is restricted to researchers, not the public itself.
The auditorium is an iron structural frame that supports the dome and the balconies. The hidden iron structure allows Garnier to use fewer and thinner supports, this means that the iron does not distract the visitors view from the magnificent building itself. There are 12 cast iron columns that were fireproofed and then covered to look like masonry. The iron skeleton was then covered with grander materials in the public areas so that the building still looks grand and majestic. Technology of stage machinery, gas lighting, ventilation, constructed from iron, but visibly so. This enabled to show the differentiation between certain features. Garnier said that iron should allow free reign to the artist’s imagination; architecture is a ‘vehicle for society’s dreams and fantasies’. The auditorium is in a horseshoe-shaped “French” auditorium, in the tradition of Italian theatre. It was called this due to the seating arrangements being positioned in a horseshoe-shape. This was so that all of the audience where able to see the stage, and so that all of the audience are visible to others. Its Iron structure of this part of the building is hidden by marble, stucco, velvet and gilding. All of these help to support the weight of the 8-ton bronze and crystal chandelier that lights up this area. The chandelier is so vast that it contains 340 lights, this helps the light to spread and light up the whole auditorium, rather than having several smaller and less efficient lights, that don’t light up the whole room.
The Paris Opera House - Interior Grand Foyer
Entrance for those arriving by carriage Artists entrance
Entrance for those arriving on foot
Stage Grand staircase Emperors entrance
Beaux-Arts architecture
Cassat: ‘Woman with a Pearl Necklace in a Loge’, 1879.
This culmination of Second Empire Beaux arts style in architecture, is closely related to the eclecticism seen in the work of artists trained in the Ecole des Beaux Arts, various historical styles are combined to create a new style. Thomas Couture: ‘Romans of the Decadence’, 1847 The use of the columns in this painting also relates back to the exterior of the Paris Opera House, as well as the painting linking into the art of the interior. This shows that the location within this painting is also of some importance and is significant to the figures.
Courbet ‘The Stonebreakers’, 1849 In this painting by Courbet you are able to see two figures that are working together to complete a task of breaking stones. The composition of this painting is effective as the two figures are positioned in such a way that makes you focus on them, before considering the background. Bouguereau: ‘Charity, or The Indigent Family’, 1865 Bouguereau has managed to capture the emotions and feelings within this painting, it involves the viewer as the atmosphere within the painting effects the viewer. The dim and glum colours enhances the effect that Bouguereau was trying to create when looking at family involved with charity. The mother as well as her children look lost and as if they have no belonging or hope.
This painting by Cassat shows that when the composition is complete and is filled with movement of the crowd: ‘Everything that happens in the world is but theatre and representation’. It shows that once the movement that the crowds creates, the painting itself then becomes alive and as if movement is being carried out. The colours in this painting reflect the happiness, joy and the wonderful experience that people go through when visiting an Opera. The figures fan suggests that she has some wealth and this then enables her to be able to afford the more luxury lifestyle, that other people long and hope for.
Iron as a building material Iron is a chemical element that is found in abundance in the Earth’s crust. It often makes up the Earth’s outer and inner core and is the fourth most common element in the crust. It is found on the periodic table of elements under the symbol Fe and the atomic number 26. The presence of iron is common in rocky planets such as Earth, due to fusion in high-mass stars. In later years Garnier campaigned against Gustave Eiffel’s iron tower for the 1889 Universal Exposition. This was because he believed that iron looked like a cheap an unattractive material, therefore he believed that it should’ve been made out of materials such as stone, that are more elegant and attractive to the eye. Abraham Derby pioneered cast iron smelting for commercial use from 1713, in Coalbrookdale. Cast Iron, strong in compression used as a column), weak in tension (when used as a beam for example), very brittle. Wrought Iron: strong in both compression and tension, but can only be made in small sections. Easily welded so sections can be added together to make large components.
Prior to the introduction of bulk iron, architecture relied on compressive strength to hold buildings up. Great structures were essentially orderly and decorated piles of stone. Architects were accustomed to thinking of certain ways of creating structure, the first uses of structural iron by architects were made using the old ideas. First structural uses of iron were for factories and bridges, ie utilitarian , not traditional ‘architecture’. Iron had been smelted since the Iron age, but not in large enough quantities to use as a structural medium. Iron was not admired for it’s architectural quality in the 19th century. Neo Classical and Romantic attitudes made architects and their clients look backwards to past examples when buildings had always been of load bearing masonry. Everything architects and their clients admired and felt comfortable with could be constructed with traditional materials and methods. Stone, with all it’s associations, was always the material of choice. Therefore architects were slow to exploit the possibilities of iron and steel which was first used in industrial utilitarian buildings such as textile mills, warehouses and greenhouses”. Abraham Darby: Iron Bridge, Coalbrookdale, 1779 the world's first cast-iron bridge
Steel Steel can be rolled into shapes, such as railway tracks, but it is far less brittle than iron and could improve upon its predecessors. Independent steel-frame buildings were pioneered in the United States in the 1880s. The steel frame had a profound impact on the exterior appearance of buildings, which no longer relied on load-bearing masonry. The steel “skeleton” could simply be clad in a variety of other materials, principally glass. Steel trusses also allowed the construction of buildings with mighty internal spans.
Rodin, Balzac and the Burghers of Calais
Rodin François Auguste René Rodin, known as Auguste Rodin was a French sculptor who was born November 1840 in Paris, and died November 1917. Sculpturally, Rodin possessed a unique ability to model a complex pocketed surface in clay. Many of his most notable sculptures were roundly criticized during his lifetime. This is because they clashed with the predominant figure sculpture tradition, in which works were decorative, conventional, or highly confined and restricted. Rodin's most original work departed from traditional themes of mythology and allegory, modelled the human body with realism, and celebrated individual character and physicality. Rodin was sensitive to the controversy surrounding his work, but refused to change his style. Successive works brought increasing favour from the government and the artistic community. He often exposed the joint lines of the piece moulds in which they were cast, as well as the "unfinished" marks of modelling and editing. Rodin typically made "spare parts" - feet, hands, knees, and so on - and put together his figures from these. Once he made a figure, he would often remake it, by recasting multiple versions and variants. Rodin’s work is characterised expressive figures, not present in contemporary academic work. His process is loose and free; with expressive fluid poses, and extended limbs, and emphatic gestures on the sculptures themselves, this increased the animated/rippling/light-catching surfaces. He looked at the inner mind of the figure rather than the outer appearance. Rodin is known as ‘The Father of Modern Sculpture’, he leaves behind notions of idealised beauty: realism; ugliness; the fragment. Therefore his work gives a role of feeling and emotions, this is one of the reasons of why this artist is so important. Rodin refused admission to the Ecole des Beaux Arts, instead he followed the craftsman’s training.
His sculptures suffered a decline in popularity after his death in 1917, but within a few decades, his legacy solidified. Rodin remains one of the few sculptors widely known outside the visual arts community. In 1875 Rodin went to Italy, where he was deeply inspired by the work of Donatello and of Michelangelo, whose sculpture he characterized as being marked by both "violence and constraint." Back in Paris in 1876, Rodin made a bronze statue of a standing man raising his arms toward his head in such a way as to project an air of uncertainty, a figure held in a pose of slight torsion suggestive of Michelangelo's Dying Slave. Rodin originally entitled the piece the Vanquished, then called it the Age of Bronze. When he submitted it to the Salon, it caused an immediate controversy, for it was so lifelike that it was believed to have been cast from the living model. The piece was unusual for the time in that it had no literary or historical connotations. After Rodin was exonerated by a committee of sculptors, the state purchased the Age of Bronze. Rodin's work process often encouraged him to reuse compositions in different ways. Most famously, figures that appear in his The Gates of Hell were often rendered at later dates, created separately and at different scales. But Rodin would also represent the same figure multiple times in the same sculpture or fragment figures into individual body parts like hands or arms. All of these processes were encouraged by his very unclassical approach to composition, and they produced strange and jarring effects.
Auguste Rodin’s work
‘The Gates of Hell’, 1880-
‘Monument to Balzac’, 1891-8
‘The Three Shades’, 1886
‘The Burgers of Calais’, 1885-95
‘Man with the Broken Nose’, 1864
‘Crouching Woman’, 1882
The Kiss’, 1886
‘The Walking Man’, 1878
‘The Age of Bronze’, 1877
‘The Hand of God’
Rodin’s working methods He made the plaster cast or clay model, his assistants or another studio would carve (in marble) the finished version. There were many versions in every medium of Rodin’s work, e.g. over 300 authorised bronze copies of the Kiss by 1917. Increasingly he left evidence of the working process, chisel marks, imprints of cloths, fragments. Perhaps inspired by Michelangelo’s unfinished works, but unlike Rodin, Michelangelo intended to finish his work.
Auguste Rodin: ‘The Age of Bronze’, 1877, bronze life size The Age of Bronze was the ‘Third age of Man’ when man shaped bronze tools. Innocent man, uncorrupted by civilisation awakens painfully and must learn to survive in this new society. A re-worked image originally holding a spear as a memorial to the fallen in 1871, reworked for the 1877 Salon. The closeness of the sculpture to the model, the lack of classical idealisation caused criticism: that the sculpture had been cast from life: i.e. a cheat. The pose of the figure and his raised arm are heroic and this contrasts well with the face which portrays a sense of spirituality, which some critics even describe as 'ecstasy'. The protruding hip serves to add motion to this sculpture and Rodin thought that this was vital in creating this piece as a classic piece of sculpture. The artist said: "It is the leaning of the figure that makes it appear to the real observer as moving." Rodin originally had a staff in his composition and by removing he not only added a more modern take on a classic form, but also created movement in what could have been an otherwise static composition. It is in the mood of this piece that the viewer gets a glimpse of Rodin, the innovator. Unlike many of the artists of his day Rodin chose to abandon the symbolism. Rodin worked on the nude for a total of 18 months. During this time he embarked on a trip to Italy in February and March 1876 where he admired the work of Michelangelo. In a burst of enthusiasm, upon returning to Brussels, Rodin finished the sculpture and presented it at the Cercle Artistique in 1877.
Michelangelo: ‘The Dying Slave’ (Julius’ Tomb) 1513
Rodin: ‘The Burghers of Calais’, 1885-95 This monument is 217 x 255 x 177 cm, and was made using Bronze,
Here you are able to see that another version of the monument has been effected by weathering. A civic monument commissioned by the civic fathers of Calais. The patriotic self sacrifice of Eustache de Saint Pierre and five fellow citizens of Calais in 1347. The story was related in Jean Froissart’s Chronicles (1370-1400). In September 1884, the mayor of Calais, Omer Dewavrin, suggested erecting a monument as a tribute to the heroism of Eustache De Saint Pierre and his companions, with the aid of a national appeal fund.
Rodin stated: “I did not want a pedestal for these figures. I wanted them to be placed on, even affixed to, the paving stones of the square in front of the Hôtel de Ville in Calais so that it looked as if they were leaving in order to go to the enemy camp. In this way they would have been, as it were, mixed with the daily life of the town: passers by would have elbowed them, but the commissioning body understood nothing of the desires I expressed. They thought I was mad. . . Statues without a pedestal! Where had that ever been seen before? There must be a pedestal; there was no way of getting around it.” Hôtel de Ville
Emphasis is on psychological impact of this group, personal embodiment of suffering and sacrifice, rather than the subject. No human nobility, no evident heroism, no suitable mediaeval detail. No parallel to recent experiences in the Franco-Prussian War. Edward 3rd offered to spare the people of the city if six of its leaders would surrender themselves Edward ordering them to dress in plain garments, wear nooses around their necks and walk to his camp holding the keys to the city.
One of the wealthiest of the town leaders, Eustache de Saint Pierre, volunteered first, and five other burghers followed. Saint Pierre led them to the city gates. It is this moment: defeat, self-sacrifice, and willingness to face death that Rodin captures. Rodin's lack of heroism was controversial, they appeared sullen and worn. The monument was innovative in that it presented the burghers at the same level as the viewers, rather than on a traditional pedestal, although until 1924 the city council of Calais, against Rodin's wishes, displayed the statue on an elevated base.
Rodin does not use the hierarchical arrangement typical of his time, ie a a pyramidal grouping with a prominent central figure. For the viewer, there is no clear distinction as to which figure might be the leader of the group. All the men are literally and figuratively on equal footing. As are we, think of the lack of high plinth. The six burghers face in different directions. randomly grouped/ individual response to the situation.
‌‌
The six burghers are not identified as wealthy powerful men. The Council conveyed to Rodin that if he had shown them at an earlier moment in the narrative, they could have been portrayed in more stately, respectable clothing. Other innovations: no evident central hero: despite the key role of Eustache de Saint Pierre he is not singled out, also this sculpture has many focal points. Typically, academic sculpture presents a single point of reference; this sculpture has a clear front and back. This makes the figures weighty, rooted to the ground, burdened by their collective decision: ie emotional weight. Other innovations: The hands and feet are proportionally large. This makes the figures weighty, rooted to the ground, burdened by their collective decision: ie emotional weight. Other innovations: No obvious statements of bravery through gesture. Traditionally bravery is shown through the uplifted chin and common facial expressions of determination.
The Burghers of Calais, first maquette, 1884
This maquette is made out of plaster, it has a height of 61cm, a width of 38cm and a depth of 32.5cm. The notion of collective sacrifice was emphasised even in the first maquette. The six figures, not yet individualised, were presented on the same plane, one next to the other, with no visible order of importance and all are in loose garments of men who are about to be executed. They were placed on a very high rectangular base, adorned with basreliefs, which formed a triumphal pedestal. This first maquette was greeted enthusiastically by the committee. Rodin was officially awarded the commission for the monument and the price was set at 15,000 francs. He then pursued his investigations into the identity of each figure and made them express the different feelings experiences by men on the verge of death; despair, resignation, courage, impassiveness or uncertainty. He modelled them directly in their actual size, first unclothed, then clothed in the type of tunics worn by the condemned men. He arranged real shirts dipped in plaster on the nude studies, so that the bodily build could be seen under the garments. In tandem with his figures, he worked on the heads and hands separately. These became sculptures in their own right. The monument was completed in 1889, the year in which it was the first presented at the Monet-Rodin exhibition in the Galerie Georges Petit, Paris.
Francois Rude: ‘La-Marseillaise.’ 1833-36. stone relief. h13 m. Arc de Triomphe. Rodin: ‘The Burghers of Calais’, 1885-95, 217 x 255 x 177 cm Comparison: - Both of these sculptures/ monuments contain six figures that help to express the feelings and emotions that the artists are trying to portray. - La-Marseillaise is axially arranged, whereas The Burghers of Calais is seen in the round and not on a fixed viewpoint. - The La-Marseillaise by Francis Rude has one main figure that is above the rest, you can tell this as it is literally higher than the rest of the figures. Whereas in The Burghers of Calais by Rodin there doesn’t appear to be one main figure, all of the figures in this piece play as important roles as each other. - The figures in La-Marseillaise are more compact and closer together, whereas the figures in The Burghers of Calais are ore spread apart from each other and more distant from each other. - The figures in La-Marseillaise appear more powerful and strong, and as if they have control. Whereas the figures in The Burghers of Calais appear more laid back and more relaxed, as well as appearing to have less control and power. - Both of these sculptures/ monuments have some kind of context, and portray some kind of story that helps to express feelings and emotions. This helps the sculptures/ monuments to interact with the viewers, and gives the viewer a sense of belonging.
Rodin: ‘Monument to Balzac’, 1891-8 On the left you are able to see a picture of Balzac, Rodin used this as one of his sources when designing the sculpture, as he never actually met Balzac himself.
This sculpture is larger than life size and is made out of bronze. Rodin received a commission for a monument to Balzac in 1891 from the Société des Gens de Lettres.
Due to the figure being wrapped in a large robe, the body and limbs are disguised, it also gives hanging folds which leaves the body generalised. This also means that the body is concealed, therefore it makes you focus on Balzac’s head. The sculpture has a twisted body that is leaning with one foot forward. This gives the effect that he is striking a theatrical pose.
After seven years' preparation by reading the author's works, by studying his biography (attempting to understand the personality and psychology of this literary genius), and by executing about 50 studies, Rodin exhibited a model of the work in the Salon of 1898. Not only did Société reject the work, but it received extraordinary controversy in the press. Criticism centred on the fact that Rodin’s treatment of a famous person did not follow the formula for glorifying the subject and on the lack of a finished surface, which is very important in academic sculptural style. The rugged face and unruly hair upon the large head, helps to portray Balzac’s characteristics. His eyes also draw you in due to them being deeply set, along with his eyes staring into the distance. His head as been thrown back, with serious facial expressions, this helps to express Balzac’s mood in this sculpture. This sculpture of Balzac is not idealised, as there are no props. The course face, with many flaws helps to show his facial expressions as well as helping to get the correct face-shape for Balzac. Rodin: “ A Balzac in his study, breathless, hair in disorder, eyes lost in a dream…my principle is to imitate not only form but life”
"I think of his intense labour, of the difficulty of his life, of his incessant battles, and of his great courage. I would express all that,"
A plaster soaked shroud representing the artist’s dressing gown. His ‘monks robe’ that he wore whilst working at night. Showing Balzac’s personality and his writing, but without the traditional forms or attributes, props etc. A plaster soaked shroud representing the artist’s dressing gown made many studies, over 70, early versions show Balzac nude. This nude figure helps to show his natural body shape which would have then be taken into consideration when Rodin created ‘Monument to Balzac’.
Balzac, study for the dressing gown, 1897. This study is made out of plaster, it has a height of 148cm, a width of 57.5cm and a depth of 42 cm.
The Eiffel Tower The Eiffel Tower is an iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It was built in 1889 as the entrance arch to the 1889 World’s Fair. The tower is 1,063 ft tall, about the same height as an 81-storey building. Its base is square, 410 ft on a side.
Gustave Eiffel
The Industrial Revolution played an important role in Gustave Eiffel's life. People were travelling across the world, new technologies and materials became available, and countries were industrialising. The Eiffel Tower was built between 1887 and 1889 as the entrance arch for the Exposition Universelle.
Alexandre Gustave Eiffel was born in 1832, France and died in 1923, in Paris, France. He was a French civil engineer and architect. He was a graduate of the prestigious ‘École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures’ of France, most famous for the Garabit viaduct. Gustave Eiffel is best known for the world-famous Eiffel Tower, built for the 1889 Universal Exposition in Paris, and his contribution to building the statue of Liberty in New York. After his retirement from engineering, Eiffel concentrated on researching into meteorology and aerodynamics, making important contributions in both fields. At the end of 1866 Eiffel managed to borrow enough money to set up his own workshops at 48 Rue Fouquet in LevalloisPerret. His first important commission was for two viaducts for the railway line between Lyon and Bordeaux, and the company also began to undertake work in other countries, including the church of San Marcos in Arica, Chile, which was an allmetal prefabricated building, manufactured in France and shipped to South America in pieces to be assembled on site.
This is the World’s Fair, marking the centennial celebration of the French Revolution.
This event was also held during the year of the 100th anniversary of the ‘storming of the Bastille’. The fair included a reconstruction of the Bastille and its surrounding neighbourhood, but with the interior courtyard covered with a blue ceiling decorated with fleur-de-lys (a stylised lily used as a decorative design or symbol) and used as a ball room and gathering place. The 1889 Exposition covered a total area of 0.96km2 , including the Champ de Mars, the Trocadero, the quai d’Orsay, a part of the Seine and the Invalides esplanade. Transport around the Exposition was partly provided by a 3 kilometre long, and 600 millimetre wide gauge railway by Decauville. It was claimed that the railway carried 6,343,446 visitors in just six months of operation. Some of the locomotives on this line later saw service on the Chemins de Fer du Calvados. Since the lifts had not been completed within the Eiffel Tower when the Exposition opened, the first visitors had to walk up to the second floor platform. Workers had worked through the night the day before the exhibition opened to complete the necessary construction needed to safely allow patrons to set foot upon the structure. When speaking of the dedicated workers, M. Salles, the son-in-law of Eiffel made the statement that "no soldier on the battle field deserved better mention than these humble toilers, who, will never go down in history." No one other than construction personnel were allowed higher than the second floor platform.
The Eiffel Tower and the Exposition Universelle
Facts about the Eiffel Tower Four inclined elevator systems serve the 200 foot level with two more continuing the relay to the 370 foot level.
The guide rails for the elevators were used for the climbing cranes which were used to erect the building.
The tower was opened on 6th May 1889.
There are 5 billion lights on the Eiffel tower, the tower consumes 7.8 million kWh per year.
Three hundred workers joined together 18,038 pieces of puddled iron (a very pure form of structural iron, it has a higher tensile strength), using two and a half million rivets. Charles Garnier, who claimed in an official petition that" the Eiffel Tower, is without a doubt the dishonour of Paris.
The Eiffel tower has one of the highest suicide rates – 17.5 per 1000 people.
The Eiffel Tower was originally painted red.
The Eiffel Tower is 6 inches taller in the summer, in the summer heat the steel structure tends to expand. A man once tried to blow up the Eiffel Tower because its light was shining into his bedroom, keeping him awake at night. Ivan Chtcheglov was planning to use dynamite stolen from some construction site, luckily he was arrested and committed to a mental hospital by his spouse.
The Eiffel Tower was not intended to be permanent. They planned to take it down in 1909 and transport it to some other place. Finally they refused the idea and started to use the tower as a giant radio antenna.
Another shuttle carried the visitors to the apex (top), which served 2,350 visitors an hour.
During WWII, when Hitler visited Paris, the French cut the lift cables on the Eiffel tower so that Hitler would have to climb the steps if he wanted to reach the top. The lifts were repaired only in 1946. During the Nazi occupation the tower was closed for public.
There are over thirty replicas of the Eiffel Tower around the world. Eiffel Tower replicas can be seen in America, Japan, Russia, Mexico, Germany, Pakistan, China, Czech Republic, There are 1,665 steps to reach Guatemala, Romania, UK etc. the top of the Eiffel Tower and is is even a race called “Vertical” In 1891 London built a structure designed to surpass that determines the best the Eiffel Tower in height. It was unsteady, never climbers of the Eiffel Tower. completed and demolished in 1907.
1000 foot high parabolic vault, which sits at the termination of the axis on the Champ de Mars.
Gustave Eiffel had an apartment for himself at the top of the Eiffel Tower. The apartment was used to make the whole city jealous and entertain the elite from the scientific world.
Gustave and iron bridges Gustave Eiffel, already famous for his structural use of iron in bridges, e.g. Garabit Viaduct. 1880-1884. He used this experience with iron construction to build the world’s tallest tower. Gustave Eiffel referred to this structure as the 300-meter tower, the name “Eiffel Tower” was given by the Parisian critics who were against it and the name has stuck ever since. Abraham Darby: ‘The Iron Bridge over the River Severn at Coalbrookdale’, England 1779. This bridge is the first important example in the world of the structural use of cast iron. Cast iron is strong in compression, but is weak in tension.
The Eiffel Tower remained the tallest structure until the building of the Chrysler building in New York in 1928-30. The Eiffel Tower is still the tallest iron building in the world, steel was rapidly becoming the preferred material for metal framing.
He designed numerous bridges, the first in 1858 in Bordeaux, viaducts, and exhibition buildings; the ultimate in exhibition architecture came in 1889, when he built his famous tower in Paris. Throughout his life he was concerned with innovative structures and especially with the effects of wind loading on plane surfaces. He built an air tunnel in his laboratory at Auteuil for experimental purposes.
Eiffel's Garabit viaduct over the Truyère near Ruines, France, is 1,625 feet long and 400 feet high and has a central span of 210 feet. Other works by Eiffel include a revolving cupola for the Nice Observatory, and the structure that supports F.A. Bartholdi's Statue of Liberty in New York City (1886).
Eiffel's most famous bridge, the Maria Pia over the Douro at Oporto, Portugal (1876), spans 500 feet by a single arch, 200 feet above high-water level, which with additional side pylons supports the horizontal superstructure.
The Eiffel Tower and iron bridges are central to the development of metal frames which dominate the large buildings of today. Compared to Norman Foster’s 1, St Mary Axe with the Eiffel Tower. If you look at the externalised metal space frame you are able to see the depth of which architects go into when creating pieces of architecture. Gustave Eiffel was the perfect example of a 19th century engineer: inventive and daring,” says Lemoine, who is himself an engineer, architect, and specialist in the history of architecture at CNRS. An associate engineer on the Garabit viaduct, Maurice Koechlin, encouraged Eiffel in his design for the Paris exhibition tower of 1889. It was the factory-made components, fitted together on the site for the viaduct, that made the 984-foot-high Eiffel Tower possible. Jules Saulnier: ‘Menier Chocolate Factory’, Noisiel, Seine Et Marne, 1871-2:
Jules Saulnier has created ‘Menier Chocolate Factory’, Noisiel, Seine Et Marne, 1871-1. This architectural building contains precise and minuscule pieces of intricate detail. This enhances the magnificence of the building itself. The individual patterns that build up to make one large scale piece of art has a vast impact on the viewer due to the scale and the intensity of the design. It is also very neatly and carefully decorated to create the best finish.
Albert Memorial The construction of the Albert Memorial began in 1864 and ended in 1872, then the statue was completed and added in 1875. It is by GG Scott and is located in Hyde Park. The memorial is 176 feet tall, and is called “Albertropolis” and cost £120,000 (the equivalent of about £10,000,000 in 2010). The cost was met by public subscription.
Albert Memorial Prince Albert sits in a Gothic structure, in the style of a Gothic ciborium- over the altar. The Albert Memorial is situated in Kensington Gardens, London, directly to the north of the Royal Albert Hall. It was commissioned by Queen Victoria in memory of her beloved husband, Prince Albert who died of typhoid in 1861. The memorial was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott in the Gothic Revival style.
‛A colossal statue of the Prince, placed beneath a vast and magnificent shrine or tabernacle and surrounded by works of sculpture illustrating those Arts and Sciences which he fostered commemorative Gothic shrine with rich decoration and allegorical sculptural figures and groups”.-Scott.
The memorial is 176 feet tall, took over ten years to complete, and cost £120,000 (the equivalent of about £10,000,000 in 2010). The cost was met by public subscription. The popularity of the Prince Consort led to the creation of several "Albert Memorials" around the United Kingdom. The Kensington memorial was not the earliest; the first to be erected was Thomas Worthington's Albert Memorial in Albert Square, Manchester, unveiled in 1865. Both memorials present the figure of Prince Albert enclosed within a Gothic ciborium, and the similarities of design have been remarked on.
Opened in July 1872 by Queen Victoria, with the statue of Albert ceremonially "seated" in 1875, the memorial consists of an ornate canopy or pavilion, in the style of a Gothic ciborium over the high altar of a church, containing a statue of the prince facing south.
At the corners of the central area, and at the corners of the outer area, there are two allegorical sculpture programs: four groups depicting Victorian industrial arts and sciences (agriculture, commerce, engineering and manufacturing), and four more groups representing Europe, Asia, Africa and The Americas at the four corners, each continent-group including several ethnographic figures and a large animal. (A camel for Africa, a bison for the Americas, an elephant for Asia and a bull for Europe.)
In a broader context the Memorial is a confident assertion of Britain’s place in the world in the 19th Century.
Baron Carlo Marochetti was originally commissioned to make the seated figure for Prince Albert, as he was a favourite sculpture of Queen Victoria. However his version was rejected, later on a John Henry Foley was commissioned to create this figure, as his sketch was approved.
The Frieze is a continuous relief of the great figures- Poets, Musicians, Painters, Sculptors and Architects There are 187 figures in the frieze. From Florence, this existing sculpture is found again in this piece. The Parnassus Frieze Poets and Musicians. H.H. ARMSTEAD Painters. H.H. ARMSTEAD Sculptors. John Birnie PHILIP Architects. John Birnie PHILIP
Asia was aimed at a ‘general feeling of repose’, the Queen believed that this statue was executed extremely well and admired his drapery.
“Asia” group by John Henry Foley
John Henry Foley’s elephant was objected to, mainly because it looks as if it is about to rise, to the discomfort of the figures on the elephant or surrounding the elephant. The official story states that ‘the prostate animal is intended to typify the subjection of brute force to human intelligence’.
They way that this figure is holding her drapes back suggests that she is showing off her nudity, and is not-self conscious. Therefore this may represent how Asia is not self-conscious and also how they are not influenced or affected by peopled opinions.
Asia by Foley has a central figure of a semi-draped Indian girl in an elegant pose, she is then seated on the elephant which shows her importance. Due to the elephant symbolising so much of Asia's beliefs. Surrounded by a vaguely Chinese oriental figure, an Assyrian and a turbaned Arabic figure, these help to show the diversity within Asia and also represents equality. This sculpture is very biblical, this is portrayed by the various figures, their positioning and what they symbolise.
Sometimes the explanation of allegory is unwise, and it is damping to learn that the poetic image of Asia unveiling herself 'is an allusion to the important display of the products of Asia, which was made at the Great Exhibition of 1851'. In Foley's first sketch-model (as in Armstead's) Asia was draped. It is not known when Foley substituted a partly nude figure.
The draping that has been placed on the elephants head as this then symbolises Asia and how it runs, as well as their beliefs. This is one of the features that helps to show that this sculpture refers back to Asia and also the figures.
Asia by John Henry Foley was completed in 1876 and was then restored in 2000. It is made out of marble which is a suitable material, due to its weather resistance which is important due to it being located outdoors.
The four figures are all looking in different directions and are looking into the distance, this gives me the impression that the figures are looking into all aspects of Asia. Which then makes you think more about Asia as a whole as well as separate segments and sections. Elephants in Asia symbolise holiness and friendliness and that is why in the recent Asia there are still religious ceremonies where offerings are made to the elephants, they wash them and anoint them with special oils and pigments so that the community be blessed with good will. They also symbolize wisdom, loyalty, strength, fidelity and longevity. This statue helps to represent these symbols as well as representing Asia itself.
The sculptor William Theed was born in Staffordshire, he studied at the Royal Academy schools, then worked for the sculptor ‘E.H.Baily’. Five years later, in 1826, he went to Rome where he stayed for 22 years. During this time he worked in the studios of ‘Thorwaldson’ and ‘John Gibson’.
“Africa” group by William Theed Africa by William Theed, Junior and was made in 1886. This sculpture is made out of marble which is also best suited for weathering, as then the sculpture is less likely to be destroyed over time. This sculpture depicts only North Africa and emphasised the Middle East, particularly Egypt.
The woman that is seated on the camel appears to have some importance/ influence on Africa, due to her high authority. This is portrayed to me by her being seated higher than the other figures, and that she is privileged to be able to sit on the camel.
The composition of this sculpture also appears to be in a pyramid form, this suggests a hierarchy. You can tell that the slave boy is a slave to the woman seated on the camel as he is lower then her, and also he is looking towards her which gives me the impression that the artist was trying to show the two figures relationship by doing this. The woman is also central in the sculpture which suggests that she is being kept protected due to her position in the hierarchy, it also suggests that everyone around her has some kind of relationship with her, either a positive of negative relationship.
The Africa group, by William Theed, gives prominence to Egypt. It is represented by a woman with a magnificent headdress on a seated camel and a servant boy with a hand resting on a sphinx. On the other side, a seated Arab, and behind, a European woman gestures towards an almost naked African man. The importance of the camel is also shown by the clothing and drapery that is covering it, it also shows that it is to do with the woman seated on it, due to their similar appearances of drapery. The range of figures helps to get across the main ideas and themes for the Africa group to the viewers, this is also created by the clothing/ drapery that William Theed has included in his sculpture. I like this sculpture due to the vast amount of detail that has been included in this piece, as well as the sculpture being created so that you are able to view it from all angles. Therefore each angle has something else to show about Africa and something else for the viewer to look into.
Egypt is represented in this sculpture by the sphinx that is located to the left of the camel.
The entire Albert memorial reflects the power of Britain during the 19th century. I don’t think that Britain will ever see this power return again, also some of the figure groups contain racial stereotypes.
The overlapping of the sculptures and how William Theed has managed to link the figures and camel together is effective as it brings the sculpture of the “Africa” group together and creates one collected piece. This makes it easier to the eye and helps to tell many stories to the viewer and shows the viewer many meanings that can be portrayed differently for every viewer that looks into it.
John Bell’s sculpture ‘America’ is a contrast to the other continental sculptures. The main animal for this sculpture is a rampant bison that you can see pawing the earth and presenting its sharp horns to the viewer. There is then a central figure that is sat on the bison, whilst other figures surround the bison. The pyramidal composition has been designed to be seen from almost al sides and angles. The pyramid composition also suggests that at the top of the pyramid there is a figure of importance, which is the figure on the bison. They are also presented as being strong and brave, due to them being seated on the bison rather than keeping a distance from the bison.
“America” group by John Bell America by John Bell was completed in 1876, and was then unveiled by Queen Victoria. It is made out granite which is different from the other sculptures, but it is also weather resistant to protect the sculpture and to help it last for a longer length of time for the public eye.
The nudity of this figure with a small amount of drapery helps viewers to identify which gender the figure is, as this is an important factor of Americas authority. These three images are the sketches/ drawings of the plans for this sculpture, but even after his final design he continued to develop his ideas further, therefore his final sculpture has been slightly adapted.
The staffs/ poles that the figures are holding also give me the impression that they have some importance/ control, as they appear as if they have power. The figures hand is above the bison's head, which shows control and the significance of these subjects. The detail on the bison's face is immense, this makes it more realistic and therefore effects the viewer in a life-like way.
This figure sat on top of the rampant bison is holding her staff high, which suggests that she is able to give order and control people/things, it again symbolises her power.
The creases and folds in this figures drapery helps to create a realistic pose, and helps to show the outline of this figure. Her shoulders are also back which represents her authority as well as well as her power. This suggests that America has power over other countries and other things, they're in control.
The position that this male figure is sat in shows his importance and is as if he is showing off. It also gives me the impression that he is on the edge of his seat and about to get up, I believe this due to the back leg ready to get up, as well as the right arm pressing down onto the object that he is sat on.
Europe by Patrick MacDowell is the most civilised of the four continent groups. There is a central queen mounted on a bull, surrounded by four more seated queens, each with their crown. It is a very British Europe, including a Britannia ruling the waves.
“Europe” group by Patrick MacDowell
You can see that this queen is holding a harp in her left hand is possibly playing it, this makes me think that she is elegant. It also suggests that she has many talents and that she is skilled. This then makes me think that part of Europe is very skilled and talented and that it has much potential. Her drapery also helps viewers to be able to see her outline, and her crown is the main symbol of showing that she is a queen.
Europe by Patrick McDowell was completed in 1876, but was restored in 2000. This sculpture is also made out of marble due to it being located outdoors. This piece of public art has been made using marble to prevent as much weathering as possible.
The elegant drapery/ clothing that is covering the seated queens implies their importance, due to the mass and the quantity of the drapery. It suggests that they are covered and fit for purpose as queens, as well as staying innocent and loyal to their fellow people. All three of the queens have blank facial expressions, this makes them look as if they are looking far into the distance. It also gives me the impression that they are looking into the future, on what they need to do to keep peace and to keep their people together. The way that they hold their swords gives them a sense of authority and suggests to the viewers that they have some power over their kingdoms, or people. The way that they are holding the swords with the blade end down suggests to me that they only use this power when necessary, because it is as if they are un armed, they are not threatening anybody. On the other hand if they were holding their swords into the air, this would give me a totally different impression on their intentions and what their beliefs are when it comes to ruling.
Marble is seen throughout the history of art due to its importance and its whiteness represents purity and simple forms. Marble is used extensively for sculpture, it derives from Greek and means ‘shining stone’, which represents its importance. Pure white marble is a symbol of purity and immortality. It is also considered an ensurer of success in education. The queens purity and immortality is shown in this sculpture by the use of marble and its symbolism. The central queen is mounted on a bull, referring to Europe and the Bull. She is surrounded by four more seated queens, each with their crown, somewhat reminiscent of the Charing Eleanor Cross.
The bull does not look angry or bad tempered, instead it looks tranquil and comfortable. This suggests that animals and people have a good relationship in this group and they live alongside each other fairly and equally without causing havoc. This gives me the impression that Europe is a fair and equal country and treats everyone and everything the same so that there is no discrimination.
Agriculture by William Calder is somewhat sentimental classical group. You are able to see a shepherd with sheep, a muscular labourer with modern tools, and a seated girl with sheaf of corn, making a benedictory gesture.
“Agriculture” group by William Calder Marshall Agriculture by William Calder Marshall was completed in 1876, and was then restored in 2000. It is made using marble, as this is what the majority of the other sculptures are made out of, and it also helps to prevent the sculpture from weathering.
Within this piece William Calder Marshall depicts a new scientific agriculture that looks into chemistry. This is shown by steam pumps and gears being present in this sculpture. These have then been placed next to the male figure which suggests that male figures had very important roles within carrying out tasks when it comes to agriculture. This female figure that is sat down to the right of the standing figure looks as if she is carrying out an agricultural task herself. It looks as if it is an easier job as this is what females would have done, as they were known to be the weaker sex. This is also implied as being an easier job that she is carrying out, as she is able to do it whilst she is sat down, suggests that there is not much movement involved in this task. Her drapery is also very elegant and contains a vast amount of detail for the task she is doing.
Each figure represents a different factor of the story behind agriculture.
William Calder Marshall has captured a lot of detail within this sculpture, this has then enabled him to get the ideas of agricultural work across to viewers in a realistic and life-like way. He also links figures to objects, which creates a flowing and smooth sculpture.
Unlike the engineering group by John Lawlor, this sculpture does not depict ancient ancestors in the frieze beneath. Instead the frieze beneath this sculpture portrays great figures in the history of music, consisting of both French and Italian composers. These consist of (from left to right); Daniel-François-Esprit Auber (1781-1871) Étienne Méhul (1763-1817) Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764) Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-1687) André Grétry (1741-1813) Josquin des Prez (c. 1450–1521) Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (1567-1643) Giacomo Carissimi (1605-1674) Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525-1594)
Within the frieze below this agricultural sculpture you are able to see that the great figures/ composers have been created to a high detail and have managed to create realistic images within a smaller space. This helps viewers to be able to differentiate one composer from another, as well as enabling them to identify these figures roles within music and the influence that they had on art. And this time period itself.
In Commerce by Thomas Thornycroft you can see a central figure that is holding a rather modest richness, and is closely surrounded by three merchants with their wares.
“Commerce” group by Thomas Thornycroft
Commerce by Thomas Thornycroft was completed in 1876; and since then was restored in 2000. It is part of the Albert Memorial and is made of marble, this allows it to be situated outside due to its weather resistance.
Thomas Thornycroft was born in 1815 and died in 1885, he was an English sculptor and engineer.
Unlike the engineering group, this sculpture does not depict ancient predecessors in the frieze beneath. Instead the frieze beneath portrays great figures in the history of French painting, these include; Delacroix, Vernet, Delaroche, Ingres, and Decamps.
The tallest female figure in this sculpture appears to be important due to the way that she is holding the object, and also by the way in which she is stood. Her detailed and elegant drapery suggests that she is an important figure of some kind and that she has power. The drapery outlines her body and hangs loosely over her shoulders. The way that the three merchants look up to her suggests that she has power and that she has authority and control over them. It also appears as if they are looking up to her, as if she is giving the guidance and leading them the way that would best benefit them.
The way in which Thomas Thornycroft has created this sculpture so that all the figures are positioned at different levels is effective as it then makes you look at all aspects of the sculpture rather than focusing on one particular subject.
The way that the main female figure has her hand rested on one of the merchants backs suggests that she respects them and treats them equally, as well as caring for the. It gives me the impression that she is a motherly figure towards the merchants, as if she is treating them fairly so that she gets the best deals/ prices for certain items. It may also help her when buying and selling, because if the merchants respect her then they may not rip her off or treat her differently from a man.
The close-up on the right shows the merchant crouched on the ground. The way that this merchant is crouched on the ground gives me the impression that it is begging the taller figure. As if it is begging to sell its produce, as it may need the money from the sale of its produce to live and carry out its tasks. The figure on the left is holding some kind of book, you are not able to identify which book in particular this is but it does give the impression that it is to do with buying and selling of goods, due to it being located on the ‘Commerce’ sculpture. Therefore it most likely links to the name of this sculpture like all of the other subjects that are in this sculpture do. All subjects within this sculpture help to show viewers the idea behind ‘Commerce’, what it is to do with and what is involved in this. This then helps to show how some people live and carry out their lives.
Commerce means, the activity of buying and selling, especially on a large scale.
The central figure holds a rather modest cornucopia, and is closely surrounded by three merchants with their wares. The name of the sculpture itself, ‘Commerce’, has been engraved on to the front.
Engineering, by John Lawlor, features a variety of mechanical devices, but while one figure of a miner has modern clothing and boots, the others are draped in classical garb.
“Engineering” group by John Lawlor
You are able to see that the man crouched down on the left is holding a spade/ shovel in his right hand. This gives me the impression that the work/ tasks that he has to carry out in the engineering sector consists of using a spade/ shovel. The way that the figure is gripping the spade/shovel suggests to me that he relies on it to carry out his work and to make a living. His outfit along with his shoes suggests that he is wearing working gear, as in he is about to get to work. It also shows the viewers what engineering workers may look like.
This sculpture has been made out of marble so that it is weather resistant, and will be able to survive long periods of time for many people to view and look further into.
The figure on the right of the sculpture looks as if they are holding some kind of gear or cog. This then helps to give viewers an idea of what this figure does for a living. Behind this figure on the right it looks as if there is some kind of mechanism, this may then help with engineering tasks that workers had to carry out. In this sculpture you can see that there is one main figure that is stood up, she has been draped in elegant and magnificent cloths. Whereas the other figures that are lower down on the sculpture are more dressed to what is appropriate for their jobs. The tall figure looks as if it is overlooking the others, and looking down on them which suggests her importance within engineering. Behind the main figure itself you can see that there is another item of engineering machinery that assists workers when carrying out their tasks. The main figure has one hand resting on the machinery and then the other hand has been captured in movement. This suggests that she is in charge or has power over the others, is an important figure.
John Lawlor (c1820 Dublin –1901 London) was an Irish sculptor and medallist, elected to the Royal Hibernian Academy in 1861.
Engineering by John Lawlor was completed in 1876 and was then restored in 2000. The ancient predecessors of modern engineers and engineering are depicted in this sculpture, these include (from left to right); Hiram, the king of Tyre who “sent Solomon architects, workmen and cedar wood to build the First Temple in Jerusalem” and who enlarged Tyre “by joining the two islands on which it was built”. Bezaleel, the chief architect of the Tabernacle. Sennacherib, the eighth-century BC Assyrian ruler who carried out extensive building projects. Nitocris, the Babylonian queen who, according to Herodotus diverted the Euphrates. Cheops, the second pharaoh of Egypt’s Old Kingdom, who reigned from 2589 to 2566 BC, and is credited with having built the Great Pyramid at Giza. All of these figures are very important went it comes to engineering, that is then why they have been included in this sculpture.
In engineering you can see a variety of mechanical devices, but while one figure of a miner has modern clothing and boots, the others are draped in classical garb.
Manufacturing by Henry Weekes contains a harmonious arrangement of the figures in a more noble classic vein, including a Herculean figure with anvil opposed to a charmingly draped girl seated on two bales.
“Manufactures” group by Henry Weekes
The screenshot to the left shows a close relationship between the authoritative male and female figure, as if they are the main figures within these piece. It suggests that they have power over everyone else, and gives me the idea that they have some form of control. This is also conveyed by them standing tall and towering over the other figures within this piece.
Manufactures by Henry Weekes was completed in 1876 and was unveiled by Queen Victoria. It is made out of granite due to this being a weather resistant material.
Henry Weekes (14 January 1807 – 1877) was an English sculptor, best known for his portraiture. He was among the most successful British sculptors of the mid-Victorian period.
The woman that is stood up and is positioned taller than all of the other figures gives me the impression that she is looked up to, and that she is an important figure. It shows that she is wise and knowledgeable therefore the other figure look up to her and turn to her in times of need. The woman is also holding an egg-timer, this suggests that she is in charge of the time, and helps to keep workers to schedule so that they can manufacture as much as they can within their certain time period. It gives me the impression that she has to keep up to check with all tasks going on so that they get everything complete before the time is up.
This close-up on the right shows you that behind the male figure you can see that there is a horse shoe and a mechanical tool . This helps to reiterate to the viewers the idea of this art piece being based on manufactures and the work that they carry out. It suggests to me that because they are located behind the stronger man, that stronger men have to carry it these kind of jobs/tasks to get them completed to a high standard. In manufactures you are able to see a Herculean figure with anvil opposed to a charmingly draped girl seated on two bales. This helps to show the contrast of the male/females appearances back in the times. That this was based on.
The man to the right is showing off his abdominal muscles and his toned body, this suggests that he has strength and power, and that he has a sense of control to a certain degree. The way that he is leaning on the stick suggests to me that he has power and authority as it looks as if he can order people about, and is in charge of the control of other figures. Also when referring to the name of this piece, “manufactures”, it suggests that he is in charge of other workers and gives orders in this aspect. His facial expressions suggest to me that he is giving orders due to his straight and demanding expression. This helps to create a mood and atmosphere within this piece, whilst conveying emotions.
The inscriptions across read; Queen Victoria and her people/ To the memory of Albert Prince consort/ As a tribute of their gratitude/ For a life devoted to the public good.
Albert Memorial Poetry John Clayton Architecture John Clayton Sculpture John Clayton Painting John Clayton
In this section of the memorial you are able to see gable mosaics, this mosaic represents architecture. Around the four sides of the memorial, the gable artist ‘Salviati’ decorated it with 1,200 sq ft of mosaic.
The golden colour of these figures also shows their importance. All of the shapes that make up this memorial represent different stories or people, they also symbolise a variety of things. This helps to make the memorial more impressive and magnificent, as it helps to represent various elements within society itself.
Each of the gable mosaics of the canopy show an allegorical figure corresponding to these different artist activities. Scott placed Painting and Sculpture on the two flanks ‘united in front by Poetry as their ideal bond of union and by Architecture behind as their material bond of union.
Prince Albert holds the catalogue of the Great Exhibition, held in Hyde Park in 1851, which he inspired and helped to organise. Although the overall design of the memorial and many of it details are in a Gothic style, and contributed towards the public’s acceptance of enthusiasm for the Gothic. But the sculptural groups and friezes are not gothic, they are allegorical and classical. To make this statue many Victorian sculptures worked together.
The freeze is a continuous relief of the great figures Poets, Musicians, Painters, Sculptors and Architects. Overall there are 187 figures in the frieze. Thomas Brock completed the statue of Prince Albert, Prince Albert holds the catalogue of the Great Exhibition, held in Hyde Park in 1851, which he inspired and helped to organise.
The focus moves upwards, from representations of human history and society, through creative and intellectual activity, to moral attributes, and terminates in the realm of virtue, religious aspiration and heaven.
Further up, near the top, are gilded bronze statues of the angels and virtues. By them being situated high up on the memorial suggests that they have some kind of importance and authority, and they are higher up than others.
The four corners of the world at the base – Marble figures representing Europe, Asia, Africa and Americanations which contributed to the Exhibition.
Allegories of the Sciences; Geometry; Astronomy; Chemistry; Geology, in the second tier in niches above the capitals Physiology; Rhetoric; Medicine; Philosophy. The whole structure adds to Albert’s role as protector of arts and reveals aspects of his character and intellect. Highly significant that Scott’s design was chosen as it was the only Gothic entry received. A Christian monument that emphasised Albert’s role as a Christian Prince.
Pillars and niches of the canopy The pillars and niches of the canopy feature eight statues representing the practical arts and sciences:
On the four pillars:
Geometry
Astronomy
Chemistry
In the four niches:
Geology
Physiology
Rhetoric
Medicine
Philosophy
Canopy The memorial's canopy features several mosaics as external and internal decorative artworks. Each of the four external mosaics show a central allegorical figure of the four arts, supported by two historical figures either side:
POESIS Poetry, Poesis carries a scroll which lists; Shakespeare, Moliere, Milton, Goethe, and Homer.
ARCHITECTURA Architecture, with SOLOMON and ICTINUS. Architecture holds a design of the Albert Memorial itself.
PICTURA Painting, with APELLS and RAPHAEL.
SCULPTURA Sculpture, with PHIDIAS and M.ANGELO (Michelangelo).
Statue of Albert
Angels and cross
Virtues
The statue of Albert was sculpted by Henry Foley, and was then completed by Thomas Brock. It was cast in bronze by Henry Prince and Company, of Southwark, 1875. You are able to see a bronze gilt statue of Prince Albert, seated, holding the catalogue of the Great Exhibition, and robed as a knight of the Garter. He is shown looking south, towards the Royal Albert Hall. The statue is within a Gothic canopy.
The angels and cross were sculpted by John Birnie Philip. Towards the top of the tower you can see eight gilded angels in two tiers. The upper angels are raising their arms heavenwards, the lower tier shows angels with their arms outspread. At the very top of the tower is a gold cross.
The image above shows the eight statues near the to of the canopy’s tower that represent moral and Christian virtues. They were sculpted by James Redfern. On the corners are the four cardinal virtues Fortitude, Prudence and Temperance; and in the faces the three theological virtues Faith, Hope, Charity, with Humility as the fourth, considered to be annexed to the virtue of temperance.
Virtues continued‌
Justice, Hope and Fortitude
Fortitude, Charity and Prudence
Prudence, Humility and Temperance
Temperance, Faith and Justice
Christ Church Swindon Christ Church was built in 1851 and was designed by G Scott, it is located in Cricklade Street, Old Town. Congregations are seated on benches that are facing east, these benches are wooden and have been carved.
Christ church is part of the “Old Town partnership� in Swindon. The partnership of various churches within Old Town work together on clergy training, pastoral work, social work and work with young people. They also work together on fundraising, and other charity events.
The spire of Christ church is 150 foot, therefore you are able to see this architectural building from a distance. Christ Church is a community of all ages and backgrounds, committed to our vision of connecting the wider community to Christ.
The old photo dates from the 1930s and it is surprising how little things have changed in the past 70 years. A road now leads into the church but the houses on the left are essentially unchanged. The image to the left is of the Vicar of Christ Church.
Christ church tries to seek a balance between supporting local charities and projects overseas and reflect this in the various organisations they sponsor.
Scott gained knowledge by restoring churches, by the 1940’s he was restoring the medieval parish churches of Stafford. Some of his work was controversial and he was accused of vandalism.
The decorative style of Christ church is Gothic Revival. Christ church illustrates characteristics of the gothic revival in the 19th century. The Oxford Monument believed that a buildings interior should be axially arranged to give focus on the altar rather than the pulpit, with three steps up to the road screen or alter rail, to symbolise the trinity.
Anteros, Shaftesbury memorial fountain Anteros, Shaftesbury memorial fountain was designed by Sir Alfred Gilbert and was completed in 1893. It is made out of both aluminium and bronze, and is 1097cm x 518cm of size. It’s located in London.
This sculpture was unveiled in 1893 and is a monument to the Earl of Shaftesbury.
Anteros, Shaftesbury memorial fountain
Gilbert chose to create the sculpture of Eros from aluminium because of the pale colour of the metal and also because aluminium is very light and strong. If it had been cast in bronze, it would not be able to support all of the weight on one thin ankle whilst leaning so far forward, therefore he had to choose a lighter metal to resolve this problem. This pose would not have been possible otherwise due to the little amount of support from the leg. This sculpture was created by Sir Alfred Gilbert, who was an English sculptor and goldsmith who enthusiastically experimented with metallurgical innovations. He was born in 1854, and died in 1934. He carried out his education mainly in Paris (École des Beaux-Arts) and studied in Rome and Florence where the significance of the Renaissance made a lasting impression upon him and his art.
This sculpture of Anteros was the first major public work that had been created using aluminium, this was made possible by the discovery of the Delville Costner casting process, in the late 19 th century. The figure of Anteros is constructed of 15 separate castings making up the head, torso, legs, arms, wings, drapery, head conch shell and bow. This sculpture is dedicated to Anthony Ashely-Cooper, the Earl of Shaftesbury, as he did a lot of work for charity- hence Anteros. At first the piece did not receive a warm reception, people were confused that it was a sculpture of Eros and not a suitable memorial to the late Earl of Shaftsbury. Remember it depicts Anteros as "the Angel of Christian Charity“. Shaftesbury memorial in Piccadilly Circus is an example of the New Sculpture movement. Gilbert was a central participant in the New Sculpture movement that invigorated sculpture in Britain at the end of the nineteenth century. Snow globe The statue of Eros at Piccadilly Circus has been housed in an inflatable PVC bubble to protect it from vandals over the holiday season. Photograph: John Keeble/Getty Images
The Magazine of Art said it provided a “striking contrast to the ugliness of the generalities of our street sculpture”.
The sculpture has always been known as Eros. Eros is the Greek God of love. However the sculptor, Gilbert, made it clear that the figure he had made represented Eros’ twin brother Anteros, the god of selfless philanthropic love.
The model for the figure of Anteros was one of Gilbert's studio assistants a 16year-old studio assistant called Angelo Colorossi.
Anteros The sculpture has always been known as Eros. Eros is the Greek God of love. However the sculptor, Gilbert, made it clear that the figure he had made represented Eros’ twin brother Anteros, the god of selfless philanthropic love. Anteros, with Eros, was one of a host of winged love gods called Erotes, the ever-youthful winged gods of love, usually depicted as winged boys in the company of Aphrodite or her attendant goddesses.
Anteros is the subject of the Shaftesbury Memorial in Piccadilly Circus, London, where he symbolises the selfless philanthropic love of the Earl of Shaftesbury for the poor. The memorial is sometimes given the name The Angel of Christian Charity and is popularly mistaken for Eros.
The fountain is an aluminium figure of Anteros standing on a bronze base. The six foot tall figure of Anteros has a relatively small body but large wings, and is standing outstretched on one leg.
Anteros, Shaftesbury memorial fountain
The actual figure rises above a fountain, which is made in bronze, but Eros is made out of aluminium, at that time a rare and novel material. Due to the figure being raised in the air by the support of the fountain, suggests that it is an important figure and that it is meant to be seen and visible to the surrounding people and viewers as well as from surrounding buildings.
Anteros is wearing a winged helmet that comes down over his forehead.
Anteros’ hand is drawn back as if he is holding an imaginary arrow, this could represent the bow and arrow of love that cupid also had, due to him being the god of love. The statue, and the decorations on the base of the fountain, are characteristic of Gilbert's work, in a New Sculpture, art nouveau style. Particularly among the decoration, the heads and half-figures of children or cherubs, and these are also similar to other studies of the juvenile form by Gilbert. This sculpture represents the Renaissance period, as well as showing the new sculpture movement. This then relates to many other sculptures that were created during the new sculpture movement to inspire viewers and other artists. Where the bow was originally pointed is the subject of two urban myths. The first is that the archer is aiming up Shaftesbury Avenue. Sometimes, the story goes that this was a visual pun to commemorate the great philanthropist. If the archer were to release his arrow, its shaft would bury itself in Shaftesbury Avenue. The other is that the arrow is pointing to the Earl's country seat in Wimborne Saint Giles, Dorset. However, an 1896 photograph of the circus taken only three years after the statue's erection clearly shows the arrow pointing in a different direction, down Lower Regent Street aptly towards Parliament. This is proven by the position relative to the statue of Shaftesbury Avenue, the London Pavilion and the Criterion Theatre.
Vast amount of detail on both the figure as well as the fountain, helps to portray elegance and calmness.
Unfortunately, the statue had already been vandalised by August of the same year, and the spot had been 'permitted to be used as a playground by dirty and squalid children'. Since then it has undergone various tribulations, including in 1994 damage by a drunken visitor climbing on it and bending the figure. Since then, it was renovated and put back, as one of the most familiar sculptural emblems of London.
The high tensile strength of aluminium allows the artist to be able to position the figure on one leg, as the leg is then strong enough to be able to support the rest of the figure. The figure is positioned in an elegant way, that suggests as if they are about to take off or fly away. As if they are not staying in one place for a long period of time, they are temporarily here. The dark colours of the bronze and aluminium help the statue to stand out from its busy surroundings, due to the lighter buildings that are located around it. The height of the statue also helps it to be visible from the distance, as well as showing its importance within London.
The statue is on one leg, his wings outstretched and having already fired an arrow from the bow he carries in his left hand. While the fountain beneath is cast in bronze, the statue is made from aluminium - at the time a rare and novel material.
'a striking contrast to the dull ugliness of the generality of our street sculpture, ... a work which, while beautifying one of our hitherto desolate open spaces, should do much towards the elevation of public taste in the direction of decorative sculpture, and serve freedom for the metropolis from any further additions of the old order of monumental monstrosities.'
New Sculpture Movement
The term "New Sculpture" was coined by the critic Edmund Gosse, who wrote a four-part series for the Art Journal in 1894. After a period of a stylised neoclassicism in sculpture over the last quarter of the century, Artists began to explore a greater degree of naturalism and wider range of subject matter. New Sculpture represents a new direction for sculpture at the end of the nineteenth century. In France Auguste Rodin left the accurate representation of the human body behind, the New Sculptors in Britain chose engage with issues of naturalistic representation of the body and the detailed rendering of its surface. The New Sculpture does not represent one singular style, but rather a range of options developed to make sculpture more vital and life-like. They represent the final flowering of a sculptural tradition that had its roots in the Renaissance, and was revitalised by Rodin and his contemporaries in mid nineteenth-century France.
Morpheus Morpheus was created by William Goscombe John in 1890, it is made out of bronze and is life size, it is 166.4cm. It is held in the Amgueddfa Cymru Caerdydd collection, which is the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff.
Morpheus by Goscombe John Morpheus in Greek mythology is the god of dreams, he has the ability to take any human form and appear in a dream, he is usually depicted with wings. The word and drug morphine is derived from him. The blank facial expression
This sculpture sympathetically explores the physical changes of old age, the loosening of the muscles of the face and neck, the prominent nose and cheekbones, and thinning hair. As the title suggests, it is not intended as a portrait, but as a reflection of our common humanity. The model was his wife's mother Clara Weiss.
Bronze is the most popular metal for cast metal sculptures; a cast bronze sculpture is often called simply a "bronze". Bronze has a property of expanding slightly just before they sat, therefore filling the finest details of a mould. Then, as the bronze cools, it shrinks a little, making it easier to separate from the mould. The strength of bronze is an advantage when figure are created in action positions or obscure positions, as it supports the positioning whilst staying strong and supportive. Whereas ceramic or stone materials are not able to position like this.
portrays the natural look, and is as if it is looking for something, or just trying to show itself off to the world.
Facial features are natural and simple, to show an ageing human face. The way that the figure is standing makes you look at all areas of their body, rather than just focusing on a particular area. This then allows all of the details and also the appearance to become visible to the viewer. Detailed, but yet simple.
William Goscombe John (1860-1952) He was born in Canton, Cardiff, he went to London in 1882 and studied at the City and Guilds of London Art School. As a young man he adopted the first name Goscombe, taken from the name of a village in Gloucestershire near his mother's home. William Goscombe John was a leader of the British ‘New Sculpture’ movement. He was commissioned to design many public monuments and statues of public figures, in 1921 he designed the memorial at Port Sunlight to the employees of Lever Brothers Ltd who had died in WW1. He received a gold medal in Paris in 1901, was made a Royal Academician in 1909, was knighted in 1911, and became corresponding member of the French Institute. The memorial statue of his wife, which he designed when she died in 1923, was stolen from the cemetery in 2001 but recovered after a few months; it was put into secure storage, but was again stolen in early 2007.
Showing all parts of the body gives me the impression that the artist wants to show the viewers all features of a natural nude body, as these parts are what we are given and what we are born with, therefore there is no need to hide them or cover them up. The position also shows this. Contrapposto stance, mimicking Renaissance art, which is typical of the new sculpture movement.
The texture and tones that Goscombe John has created on the stomach of the figure is emphasised by the reflection of the light bouncing off different levelled areas. This helps to enhance the appearance of the figure.
The highly tensile strength is shown in this nude figure, as it shows off its body to the viewers. This helps to represent natural forms.
An Athlete Wrestling with a Python An Athlete Wrestling with a Python was created by Lord Frederic Leighton in 1877. It is a bronze sculpture that is 174.6cm x 98.4cm x 109.9cm and weighed 290kg. It is part of a private collection. It had become one of the most recognisable sculptures of the late Victorian era.
An Athlete Wrestling with a Python by Lord Frederic Leighton The painter and sculptor, Lord Frederic Leighton, had a high interest and influence from Italian art. He carried out extensive studying in Frankfurt, Rome and Paris, which influenced his art and sculptures. In subject and scale it is evidently intended as a challenge to one of the greatest classical sculptures, The Laocoön, showing three men being crushed by two sea serpents.
Lord Frederic Leighton’s 1877 sculpture, Athlete Wrestling with a Python, was considered at its time to introduce a Renaissance in contemporary British Sculpture, this is known as the ‘New Sculpture’. His extensive study depended on copying Roman Sculpture, and was made with the assistance of Thomas Brock. The use of bronze allowed him to display and emphasise his attention to the texture and the surface of the sculpture, it also allowed him to show as much detail as he wanted which was visible to the human eye.
In 1874 Leighton was commissioned to paint the large processional picture The Daphnephoria, and it was for this that he modelled maquettes for several of the figures, a technique he was to continue to use in the future. It was while working on these first figures that the idea of Athlete Strangling a Python came to him. Depth is The muscles and tones created by the that are showed on the Detailed facial different tonal stomach, help to give you expressions, to show areas. a sense of how strong and the athlete is feeling powerful the athlete it, towards the python. and how it is managing to hold the vast python. The detail on the pythons head helps to make it look realistic, as well as showing the extent to how dangerous it can be towards the athlete.
The human form has been presented competing against a reptile, in a moving and fighting pose.
Complex & powerful.
Can be seen from all angles and perspectives, easy for the eye.
Leighton’s ‘Athlete Strangling a Python’ was to have an inspiring effect on a whole generation of younger English sculptors, and for many years it was the representative work chosen to illustrate any reference to the term ‘New Sculpture’.
Here you can see the vast amount of detail that Leighton has created on the snake as well as the figures hand.
He translated his work into a durable and permanent material without relying on the confirmation of a commission, so that appears not as a basic design in plaster but a fully finished sculpture.
The ensuing life size bronze 'An Athlete Strangling a Python' which Leighton exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1877 was arguably the most influential piece of English sculpture of the 19th Century.
The Crystal Palace The Crystal Palace was designed by the architect Joseph Paxton. It was a cast-iron and plate-glass structure situated in Hyde Park, London, England, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. It was 1,851 feet (564 m) long, with an interior height of 128 feet (39 m).
The Crystal Palace by Joseph Paxton The Crystal Palace was 1851 feet long, 408 feet wide and 108 feet high. It required 4,500 tons of iron and over 293,000 panes of glass. This magnificent piece of architecture took only 8 months to build, and demonstrates British technology in iron and glass. It is unlike any other building due to its vast span and the materials that this enormous building was made out of. The Crystal Palace was the house to the modern world’s fair, the Great Exhibition of 1851, celebrating the British Empire and British manufacturing and commerce. The glazing of this piece of architecture was fast; one man managed to fix 108 panels in a single day. After the exhibition, the building was rebuilt in an enlarged form on Penge Common, at the top of Penge Peak next to Sydenham Hill, an affluent south London suburb of large Its name resulted from a piece penned by villas. It stood there from 1854 until its destruction by fire in 1936. A re-working of the the playwright Douglas Jerrold, who in July building, known as The Garden Palace, had been constructed in Sydney in 1879, but 1850 wrote in the satirical magazine Punch this building too was destroyed by fire. The park still contains Benjamin Waterhouse about the forthcoming Great Exhibition of Hawkins's Crystal Palace Dinosaurs from 1854. 1851, referring to a ‘palace of very crystal’. The Crystal Palace had the first Paxton's modular, hierarchical design reflected his practical brilliance as a designer and major installation of public toilets. problem-solver. It incorporated many breakthroughs, offered practical advantages that no conventional building could match and, above all, embodied the spirit of British innovation and industrial might that the Great Exhibition was intended to celebrate. The Great Exhibition was opened on 1 May 1851 Fox, Henderson took possession of the site in July 1850 and erected wooden by Queen Victoria. It was the first of the World's hoardings which were constructed using the timber that later became the Fair exhibitions of culture and industry. There The Crystal Palace floorboards of the finished building. More than 5000 navvies worked on the were some 100,000 objects, displayed along more cost £2 million, but building during its construction, with up to 2000 on site at one time during than ten miles, by over 15,000 contributors. was destroyed by a the peak building phase. More than 1,000 iron columns supported 2,224 trellis Britain occupied half the display space inside with fire on 30th November girders and 30 miles of guttering, comprising 4,000 tonnes of iron in all. exhibits from the home country and the Empire. 1936. This devastated many people due to its vast architectural structure that amazed many people. The architectural style of the crystal palace is Victorian, due to its design and appearance.
The invention of the cast plate glass method in 1848 made possible the production of large sheets of cheap but strong glass, and its use in the Crystal Palace created a structure with the greatest area of glass ever seen in a building and astonished visitors with its clear walls and ceilings that did not require interior lights.
The Monument The Monument to the Great Fire of London, known as ‘Monument’ is located in London, near the northern end of London Bridge, which commemorates the Great Fire of London. It was constructed between 1671 and 1677, it is 202 ft tall and is the tallest isolated stone column in the world.
The Monument was built between 1671 and 1677, by Christopher Wren and Robert Hooke. It has been created using Portland stone. It is a monument that contains relief sculptures, it is located in the City of London, near the northern end of London Bridge. This monument commemorates the Great fire of London, therefore the sculptures and writing, as well as the architecture is based on this event. It stands at the junction of Monument Street and Fish Street Hill, it is 202 ft tall and the monument itself is also 202 ft from the spot in Pudding Lane where the Great Fire started on 2nd September 1666. Another monument, the Golden Boy of Pye Corner, marks the point near Smithfield where the fire was stopped. The monument was built on the site of St. Margaret’s, Fish Street, the first church to be burnt down by the Great Fire. Three sides of the base carry inscriptions in Latin. The one on the south side describes actions taken by King Charles II following the fire. The one on the east describes how the Monument was started and brought to perfection, and under which mayors. Inscriptions on the north side describe how the fire started, how much damage it caused, and how it was eventually extinguished. In 1681, the words "but Popish frenzy, which wrought such horrors, is not yet quenched" were added to the end of the inscription. Text on the east side generally blames Roman Catholics for the fire, and this prompted Alexander Pope (himself a Catholic) to say of the area that it is: The top of the monument can be reached by a narrow winding staircase of 311 steps. A mesh cage was added in the mid-19th century at the top to prevent people jumping off, after six people had committed suicide from the structure between 1788 and 1842.
Where London's column, pointing at the skies, Like a tall bully, lifts the head, and lies. – Moral Essays, Epistle iii. line 339 (1733–1734). The words were chiseled out in 1830. The west side of the base displays a sculpture, by Caius Gabriel Cibber, in alto and bas relief, of the destruction of the City; with Charles II and his brother, James, the Duke of York (later James II), surrounded by liberty, architecture, and science, giving directions for its restoration.
The Monument consists of a column built of Portland stone, topped with a gilded urn of fire. It was designed by Christopher Wren and Robert Hooke. Its height marks its distance from the site of the shop of Thomas Farynore, the king’s baker, where the Great Fire began.
The Monument was built as a zenith telescope – one that looks straight up. By looking at a fixed star, Hooke hoped to gain evidence that the Earth moved round the Sun.
The nearest London Underground station is Monument. It is a Grade I listed building, the highest designation possible. This map shows the location of the Monument within London.
Column plans
Ionic Order – more refined
Corinthian Order – elegant, complex. expensive Doric Order – strong, plain
The history of the Great Fire of London The Great Fire of London was a major wildfire that swept through the central parts of the English city of London It began on Sunday, 2 September until Wednesday, 5 September 1666. The fire gutted the medieval City of London inside the old Roman city wall. It threatened, but did not reach, the aristocratic district of Westminster, Charles II's Palace of Whitehall, and most of the suburban slums. It consumed 13,200 houses, 87 parish churches, St Paul's Cathedral and most of the buildings of the City authorities. It is estimated to have destroyed the homes of 65,000 – 80,000 of the City's 80,000 inhabitants. The death toll is unknown but traditionally thought to have been small, as only six verified deaths were recorded. This reasoning has recently been challenged on the grounds that the deaths of poor and middle-class people were not recorded, while the heat of the fire may have cremated many victims leaving no recognisable remains. A melted piece of pottery on display at the Museum of London found by archaeologists in Pudding Lane, where the fire started, shows that the temperature reached 1700 °C.
Londoners had already lived through the plague in 1665.
The Great Fire started at the bakery of Thomas Farriner (or Farynor) on Pudding Lane, shortly after midnight on Sunday, 2 September, and spread rapidly west across the City of London. The use of the major firefighting technique of the time, the creation of firebreaks by means of demolition, was critically delayed owing to the indecisiveness of the Lord Mayor of London, Sir Thomas Bloodworth. By the time large-scale demolitions were ordered on Sunday night, the wind had already fanned the bakery fire into a firestorm which defeated such measures. The fire pushed north on Monday into the heart of the City. Order in the streets broke down as rumours arose of suspicious foreigners setting fires. The fears of the homeless focused on the French and Dutch, England's enemies in the ongoing Second Anglo-Dutch War; these substantial immigrant groups became victims of lynching's and street violence. On Tuesday, the fire spread over most of the City, destroying St Paul's Cathedral and leaping the River Fleet to threaten Charles II's court at Whitehall, while coordinated firefighting efforts were simultaneously mobilising. The battle to quench the fire is considered to have been won by two factors: the strong east winds died down, and the Tower of London garrison used gunpowder to create effective firebreaks to halt further spread eastward. The social and economic problems created by the disaster were overwhelming. Evacuation from London and resettlement elsewhere were strongly encouraged by Charles II, who feared a London rebellion amongst the dispossessed refugees. Despite numerous radical proposals, London was reconstructed on essentially the same street plan used before the fire.
What did they do to prevent future fires: - Roads were widened to reduce the risk of fires spreading in future. - For the same reason, King Charles II said that buildings had to be erected largely from brick and stone instead of timber.
Wren was the most prolific architect. In total, he designed and supervised the construction of 52 churches-St Paul’s Cathedral took 35 years to complete. Wren was also one of the architects of the 62m (202 foot) tall Monument, a memorial to the Great Fire which stands close to the site where it started. Christopher Wren’s grave in St Paul’s bears the Latin inscription ‘Lector Di Monumentum Requiris Cricumspice’, meaning ‘Reader, if you seek a monument, look around you’.
It is a colossal Doric column in the classical tradition, it is topped with a drum and a copper urn from which flames emerge, symbolising the Great Fire. Due to this being at the top of the column it shows that is high up and has power over London, and that the fire could not be stopped due to its intense and rapid flames that where controlling the city without any forgiveness.
Due to this some people describe the Monument as built in the form of a candle. It consists of a pedestal about 21 feet square and 40 feet high, with a plinth 28 feet square, and a fluted shaft 120 feet high and 15 feet in diameter; on the abacus is a balcony encompassing a moulded cylinder, which supports a flaming urn or vase of gilt bronze, again symbolising the Fire.
Christopher Wren, a favourite of King Charles II was given the task along with a committee of six men, known as the ‘Commissioners for Rebuilding’. Their role was to manage surveys of ruined properties and consider the form and scale of new buildings, and any alterations to the streets.
St Pauls Cathedral 1675 the first cathedral was there from 604, Constructed in a Renaissance style, this is the baroque version by Sir Christopher Wren.
North Panel
Translation of the Latin inscription above: In the year of Christ 1666, on the 2nd September, at a distance eastward from this place of 202 feet, which is the height of this column, a fire broke out in the dead of night, which, the wind blowing, devoured even distant buildings, and rushed devastating through every quarter with astonishing swiftness and noise. It consumed 89 churches, gates, the Guildhall, public edifices, hospitals, schools, libraries, a great number of blocks of buildings, 13,200 houses, 400 streets. Of the 26 wards, it utterly destroyed 15, and left 8 mutilated and half-burnt. The ashes of the City, covering as many as 436 acres, extended on one side from the Tower along the bank of the Thames to the church of the Templars, on the other side from the north-east gate along the walls to the head of Fleet-ditch. Merciless to the wealth and estates of the citizens, it was harmless to their lives, so as throughout to remind us of the final destruction of the world by fire. The havoc was swift. A little space of time saw the same city most prosperous and no longer in being. On the third day, when it had now altogether vanquished all human counsel and resource, at the bidding, as we may well believe, of heaven, the fatal fire stayed its course and everywhere died out. *[But Popish frenzy, which wrought such horrors, is not yet quenched.] * These last words were added in 1681 and finally deleted in 1830.
The Panels
South Panel
Translation of the Latin inscription above: Charles the Second, son of Charles the Martyr, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland, defender of the faith, a most gracious prince, commiserating the deplorable state of things, whilst the ruins were yet smoking provided for the comfort of his citizens, and the ornament of his city; remitted their taxes, and referred the petitions of the magistrates and inhabitants of London to the Parliament; who immediately passed an Act, that public works should be restored to a greater beauty, with public money, to be raised by an imposition on coals; that churches, and the cathedral of St. Paul's, should be rebuilt from their foundations, with all magnificence; that the bridges, gates, and prisons should be new made, the sewers cleansed, the streets made straight and regular, such as were steep levelled and those too narrow made wider, markets and shambles removed to separate places. They also enacted, that every house should be built with party-walls, and all raised of an equal height in front, and that all house walls should be strengthened with stone or brick; and that no man should delay building beyond the space of seven years. Furthermore, he procured an Act to settle beforehand the suits which should arise respecting boundaries, he also established an annual service of intercession, and caused this column to be erected as a perpetual memorial to posterity. Haste is seen everywhere, London rises again, whether with greater speed or greater magnificence is doubtful, three short years complete that which was considered the work of an age.
East Panel
West Panel Caius Gabriel Cibber executed the sculpture on the west panel, and the four dragons at the base were the work of Edward Pierce Junior. Bassorelievo or bass relief by Caius Gabriel Cibber, the sculptor, which represents the King affording protection to the desolate and burned London City and, freedom to its rebuilders and inhabitants.
Translation of the Latin inscription above: This pillar was begun, Sir Richard Ford, knt., being Lord Mayor of London, in the year 1671; carried higher in the Mayoralties of Sir George Waterman, knt., Sir Robert Hanson, knt., Sir William Hooker, knt., Sir Robert Viner, knt., and Sir Joseph Sheldon, knt.; and finished in the Mayoralty of Sir Thomas Davies, in the year of the Lord 1677.
On the left-hand side of this relief sculpture Caius Gabriel Cibber has produced an image of the Great Fire of London and how people reacted to the fire, and how the fire also effected people. Whereas the scene on the right shows the reconstruction of London and the transformation after the fire. It shows how London was re-built and brought back to life during and after the reconstruction. These two scenes are linked by the figures on the cloud, which are higher than other figures, as well as the joining pavement underneath the figures feet
Behind Time is a group of citizens raising their hands in encouragement.
You can see figures in the top right-hand side corner, which suggests they are either the architects or the builders themselves.
Over her head are shown houses burning and flames breaking out through the windows.
Behind the King stands his brother, the Duke of York, holding in one hand a garland to crown the rising city. The two figures behind are justice with a coronet, and Fortitude with a reined lion. The first represents Science, with a winged head and a circle of nude boys dancing on it, and in her hand a figure of Nature ready to give assistance. The pavement of stone raised with steps, stands King Charles II in Roman costume, with a baton in his right hand and a laurel wreath on his head, looking towards the City of London, and commanding three of his attendants to descend to her relief.
Another female figure by her side gently touches her with one hand and, with a winged sceptre in the other, points upwards to two goddesses sitting in the clouds, one with a cornucopia, denoting Plenty, the other having a palm branch in her left hand, signifying Peace.
The design is allegorical and displays a female figure, representing the City of London, sitting on ruins in a languishing condition, her head hanging down, her hair dishevelled and her left hand lying carelessly upon her sword; behind is Time with his wings and bald head, gradually raising her up. As London is lifted back up and re-built.
The figures on the left of this sculpture, where the fire is taking place, look extremely distressed and upset. They look very frightened and worried. Compared to the figures on the right of the sculpture, where the reconstruction is taking place, who look like they have regained hope and look more enthusiastic. They also look very excited about the reconstruction.
Beneath the figure of London, in the midst of the ruins, is a dragon supporting a shield bearing the arms of the City of London.
The third figure is Liberty waving a cap in the air. The second is Architecture holding in the right hand a plan, and in the left, a square and compasses. The third figure is Liberty waving a cap in the air.
At her feet is a beehive, which symbolises Industry, by which the greatest difficulties can be defeated.
The contrast of the two sides of this sculpture, the fire and the reconstruction, help to tell a story of London. This helps to show London’s culture and history to the many viewers.
These steps represent the stairs to the new London, as it is a new beginning for the city, with many opportunities ahead. The stairs go up to show the growth.
Lastly, underneath the stone pavement on which the King stands, is a figure of Envy gnawing a heart and emitting contagious fumes from her mouth.
Trajan’s column Trajan's Column is a Roman triumphal column in Rome, Italy, that commemorates Roman emperor Trajan's victory in the Dacian Wars. It was completed by 113AD.
Wren viewed this column when he was in Rome. This column celebrates the Emperors status, due to the battles against the Dacians. The Dacians were a tribe from now modern day Romania. I believe that the vast amount of detail that has been incorporated into this column is effective as it helps to show all aspects and perspectives, as well as portraying many stories and facts. The calving is also very realistic and therefor attracts the viewers attention to have a closer look. Ancient coins indicate preliminary plans to top the column with a statue of a bird, probably an eagle, but after construction, a statue of Trajan was put in place; this statue disappeared in the Middle Ages. On December 4, 1587, the top was crowned by Pope Sixtus V with a bronze figure of St. Peter, which remains to this day. Overall there are 2639 figures that have been carved into this magnificent monument. There are 155 scenes, spiralling 200 meters. Within the scenes Trajan appears 59 times, this reminds the viewers of what the column is based on and also reminds them of the name of the column itself. This column is very new and modern compared to other columns that exist. Nothing like this has appeared in history of art before therefore it grabbed the attention of viewers due to the new visual aspect. Depicts the two battles the Roman Emperor Trajan had with the Dacians.
Filippo Coarelli, a noted Italian archaeologist, explains that: When it was built, the column stood between two libraries, which perhaps held the soldier-emperor's account of the Roman-Dacian Wars. Working under the supervision of a maestro, Coarelli says, sculptors followed a plan to create a sky-scraping version of Trajan's scroll on 17 drums of the finest Carrara marble. The continuous helical frieze winds twenty-three times from base to capital, and was in its time an architectural innovation. The design was adopted by later emperors such as Marcus Aurelius. The narrative band expands from about 1 metre at the base of the column to 1.2 metres at the top. The scenes unfold continuously. Often a variety of different perspectives are used in the same scene, so that more can be revealed (e.g., a different angle is used to show men working behind a wall). The relief portrays Trajan's two victorious military campaigns against the Dacians; the lower half illustrating the first (101–102), and the top half illustrating the second (105–106). These campaigns were contemporary to the time of the Column's building. Throughout, the frieze repeats standardized scenes of imperial address, sacrifice , and the army setting out on campaign. Scenes of battle are very much a minority on the column, instead it emphasizes images of orderly soldiers carrying out ceremony and construction.
Nelson’s column Nelson’s column was built between 1840 and 1843,it was designed by William Railton. The sandstone statue of Nelson is by E.H.Baily.
Admiral Nelson Nelson was born at Burnham Thorpe in Norfolk. He was the sixth child of the Revd Edmund Nelson and his wife. He was born on Friday 29 September 1758. Nelson entered the Navy as a Midshipman at the age of 12. His first ship was HMS Raisonable which was commanded by his uncle, Maurice Suckling. He lost the sight in his right eye at the siege of Calvi on 10 July 1794. This did not deter him in any way. Nelson first became a national hero at the battle of Cape St Vincent on 14 February 1797 against a combined French and Spanish fleet. He was Captain of HMS Captain. The Commander in Chief was John Jervis. The British fleet were in a single line of battle to engage the enemy when some Spanish ships looked as though they might escape north when they were astern of the British column. Nelson spotted this and took his ship out of the line across the passage of the Spanish ships, forcing them to change course, and allowed the leading British ships to catch them up. Nelson also led a boarding party and captured two Spanish ships, San Josef and San Nicholas.
However, Nelson lost his right arm at Santa Cruz (Tenerife) on 24 July 1797. The other major battles that Nelson is known for are the battle of the Nile (also known as Aboukir Bay) on 1st August 1798, the battle of Copenhagen on 2 April 1801 and the battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805, which are commemorated on Nelsons column.
The Battle of Trafalgar The Battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805) was a naval engagement fought by the Royal Navy against the combined fleets of the French and Spanish Navies, during the War of the Third Coalition (August–December 1805) of the Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815). The battle was the most decisive naval victory of the war. Twenty-seven British ships of the line led by Admiral Lord Nelson aboard HMS Victory defeated thirty-three French and Spanish ships of the line under French Admiral Pierre-Charles Villeneuve in the Atlantic off the southwest coast of Spain, just west of Cape Trafalgar, in Caños de Meca. The Franco-Spanish fleet lost twenty-two ships, without a single British vessel being lost.
A French sniper shot Nelson in the shoulder and chest. He was taken below and died about 30 minutes before the end of the battle. Nelson's last words, were "Now I am satisfied. Thank God I have done my duty.“ Victory at the Battle of Trafalgar ensured that Napoleon would never invade Britain. A column was erected to his memory in the newly named Trafalgar Square. The section that attacked the allied rear line was commanded by Admiral Collingwood, Nelson’s second-in-command. As his ship, the Royal Sovereign, was engaged in fierce gunfire, Collingwood was spotted by his crew pacing the deck and calmly eating an apple.
Nelson's last and greatest victory against the French was the Battle of Trafalgar, which began after Nelson caught sight of a Napoleon led French-Spanish force of 33 ships at Cape Trafalgar, off the coast of Spain, Nelson had 27 ships. Nelson divided his ships into two and gave a famous message from the ship Victory: "England expects that every man will do his duty.“ In five hours of fighting, the British devastated the enemy fleet, destroying 19 enemy ships.
The French were commanded by Pierre-Charles Villeneuve who was captured along with his ship. He attended Nelson’s funeral shortly after.
Nelson’s column Constructed between 1840 and 1843 design by William Railton. The base of Nelson’s column contains four bronze lions which were added in 1867, these were designed by Sir Edwin Landseer. On the base you can also see four bronze relief panels, which were cast from captured French guns. This celebrates battles, one of these is the Battle of Trafalgar.
Nelson’s Column is made using three 18 ft pieces built from Dartmoor granite in the Corinthian order.
A fund was started to raise money for a monument to Nelson, but it only raised £1,300 which was totally inadequate. In 1838, however, a group of influential London businessmen, peers and Members of Parliament gathered for the first meeting of the Nelson Memorial Committee. It took just four months for them to secure an appropriate site for the Memorial – in the heart of Trafalgar Square, which was under construction at that time.
The committee chose William Railton’s design from a competition of architectural designs for the memorial, and he built the actual column from finest Dartmoor granite and bronze. Other artists and sculptors were commissioned to work on the lions and the decorative panels. Edward Hodges Baily sculpted the statue of Nelson, which actually stands over 18 feet (5.5 metres) high. At the In 1858, the House of top of the granite column the agapanthus leaves were said to have been made from an old cannon which Commons allocated £6000 was melted down at the Woolwich Arsenal Foundry. for the lions. Sir Edwin The sandstone statue of Nelson is by E. Landseer (1802 – 1873) was H. Baily. The whole monument from top to bottom measures 169 feet high appointed to carry out the (51.6 metres). It was always believed to be 185 feet tall, but when commission. Landseer was Sir Edwin Landseer who sculpted scaffolding was erected and the column was cleaned in 2006, the known best for his painting the four lions for Nelson’s column monument was found to be 16 feet shorter than recorded. of animals. made an anatomical error, as he sculpted the lions with concave Nelson was raised to his position high above the Square on 4 November 1843, narrowly missing backs. But in real life when lions lie Trafalgar Day by just 14 days. down, they have an arched back. Once again lack of funds held up the final decoration but the Government Treasury made a Although Nelson was a hero, it took 38 contribution for the work to continue. years to get a memorial built to him. Money was short as the Napoleonic Wars The four 18-foot square bas-relief bronze panels at the foot of the column depict Nelson’s dragged on for another 10 years after greatest battles: the Battle of the Nile, the Battle of Cape St Vincent, the Battle of Copenhagen Nelson’s death. and the Battle of Trafalgar.
Vendôme column Vendôme column began to be built in 1806, and was completed in 1810, it was built under Napoleon’s direction.
Vendôme column The original column was started in 1806, and was completed in 1810, it was under Napoleon’s direction. It was modelled after Trajan’s Column, to celebrate the victory of Austerlitz. Its exterior of 425 spiralling bas-relief bronze plates was made out of cannon taken from the combined armies of Europe. The usual figure given is hugely exaggerated; 180 cannon were actually captured at Austerlitz. These plates were designed by the sculptor Pierre-Nolasque Bergeret and executed by a team of sculptures including Jean-Joseph Foucou, Louis-Simon Boizot, François Joseph Bosio, Lorenzo Bartolini, Claude Ramey, François Rude, Corbet, Clodion and Henri-Joseph Ruxthiel. A statue of Napoleon, bare-headed, crowned with laurels and holding a sword in his right hand and a globe surmounted with a statue of victory (as in Napoleon as Mars the Peacemaker) in his left hand, was placed on top of the column. In 1816, taking advantage of the Allied occupying force, a mob of men and horses attached a cable to the neck of the statue with Napoleon on top of the column, but it had refused to budge. One woman said “If the Emperor is as solid on his throne as this statue is on its column, he's nowhere near descending the throne”. After the Bourbon Restoration the statue, though not the column, was pulled down and melted down to provide the bronze for the recast equestrian statue of Henry IV on the Pont Neuf. A replacement of Napoleon in modern dress (a tricorn hat, boots and a redingote), however, was erected by Louis-Philippe, and a better, more elegant and majestic one by Louis-Napoleon. Gustave Courbet was a painter as well as the president of the Federation of Artists and was elected member of the Commune, who had previously expressed his dismay that this monument to war was located on the Rue de la Paix. During the Paris Commune in 1871 he proposed that the column be disassembled and preserved at the Hôtel des Invalides. Courbet argued that: Communards pose with the statue of Napoléon I from the toppled Vendôme column, 1871 “ In as much as the Vendôme column is a monument devoid of all artistic value, tending to perpetuate by its expression the ideas of war and conquest of the past imperial dynasty, which are reproved by a republican nation's sentiment, citizen Courbet expresses the wish that the National Defence government will authorise him to disassemble this column. ” His project as proposed was not adopted, though on 12 April 1871 legislation was passed authorising the dismantling of the imperial symbol. When the column was taken down on 16th May its bronze plates were preserved. After the defeat of the Paris Commune by Adolphe Theirs; the decision was made to rebuild the column with the statue of Napoleon restored at its tip. For his role in the Commune, Courbet was condemned to pay the costs of rebuilding the monument, estimated at 323,000 francs, in yearly instalments of 10,000 francs. Unable to pay, Courbet went into self-imposed exile in Switzerland, the French government seized and sold the artist’s paintings for a minor amount, and Courbet died in exile in December 1877. In 1874, the column was re-erected at the centre of Place Vendôme with a copy of the original statue on top. An inner staircase leading to the top is no longer open to the public.
War memorials A war memorial is a monument, statue, building or other pieces of architecture to celebrate or remember a war, and commemorating those killed or injured in a war.
Francis Derwent Wood. The Machine Gun Corps Memorial, also known as The Boy David The Machine Gun Corps Memorial was built in 1925, it was built using bronze, stone and two real machine guns. It is located on the north side of the traffic island at Hyde Park Corner in London, near the Wellington Arch, an Equestrian statue of the Duke of Wellington, the Royal Artillery Memorial, the New Zealand War Memorial, and the Australian War Memorial.
The Machine Gun Corps Memorial The memorial was originally placed next to Grosvenor Place in London but was dismantled shortly afterwards due to roadwork's. It was rededicated in its present location in Hyde Park in 1963.
The Machine Gun Corps Memorial, also known as The Boy David, is a memorial to the dead of the Machine Gun Corps in the First World War at Hyde Park Corner in London. It is topped with a nude statue of a young David.
The inscription on the main column reads: ERECTED TO / COMMEMORATE / THE GLORIOUS / HEROES / OF THE / MACHINE GUN / CORPS / WHO FELL IN / THE GREAT / WAR, and then below, a Biblical quotation from 1 Samuel 18:7: "Saul has slain his thousands / but David his tens of thousands". The plinths to either side bear the dates MCMXIV and MCMXIX. A further inscription on the rear records that the Machine Gun Corps was formed in October 1915 and disbanded in 1922; in that time, some 11,500 officers and 159,000 other ranks served in the Corps, of whom 1,120 officers and 1,671 other ranks were killed, and 2,881 officers and 45,377 other ranks wounded, missing or prisoners-of-war. The high casualty rate of the Corps, nearly 30%, arose from the exposed position from which it typically fought, leading to its nickname, "The Suicide Club". Another example of the David statue was erected at Cheyne Walk on Chelsea Embankment. The original by Edward Bainbridge Copnall, based on Wood's version, was stolen in 1969, and a fibreglass replacement was unveiled in 1975. Another bronze example by Wood is held by the National Gallery of Victoria in Australia. The Machine Gun Corps had several branches. The Cavalry Branch has a war memorial in Folkestone, near the Corps' barracks at Shorncliffe.
Each year there is an Annual Observance, (usually 2nd Saturday in May) held at the Boy David Memorial, Hyde Park Corner, London where Members and friends gather to remember the brave men of the MGC during a solemn but moving service. A wreath is laid on behalf of the OCA by our President, Lt Col Kevin Cranston, Army Air Corps (Rtd) followed by members who lay wreaths for their relatives.
The memorial was originally erected next to Grosvenor Place, near Hyde Park Corner, and unveiled on 10 May 1925 by Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn.
The memorial was controversial, as some interpreted the beautiful statue with its accompanying Vickers guns, and the reference to slaying hundreds and thousands, as glorifying war. There were letters in The Times and discussion in the House of Commons. Despite these interpretations, Derwent Woods wanted to depict the true nature of war, and in particular the solitary conflict of machine gunner. Although already in his 40’s, he enlisted in 1915 to serve as an orderly in the Royal Army Medical Corps; he designed masks to be worn by soldiers with facial disfigurements caused by their wounds, and was fully aware of the horrors of modern mechanical warfare.
The memorial was dismantled due to roadworks in 1945, and was not reconstructed for several decades. It was rededicated at its present location, in the central section of Hyde Park Corner, in 1963. It received a Grade II listing in 1970, and was upgraded to Grade II* in July 2014. The Machine Gun Corps Old Comrades' Association holds an annual observance in May and a memorial service on Remembrance Sunday in November each year.
The Machine Gun Corps (MGC) was a corps of the British Army, formed in October 1915 in response to the need for more effective use of machine guns in World War I. When he (Wood) was too old (at 41) to enlist in the Army at the onset of World War One, Wood volunteered in the hospital wards and he viewed the exposure to the gruesome injuries inflicted by the new war's weapons.
The Machine Gun Corps Memorial There were so many corpses at World War 1 they could not bring them home. People needed to remember, this is why war memorials are created.
This inscription caused controversy at the time of it's unveiling, with questions raised in the House. It was deemed to be an attempt to glorify war, which is how many interpret this today. Whether it does or does not, the inscription is now a matter of history and we would never attempt to have it changed. The Boy David is on the north side of Hyde Park Corner, in the sunniest, quietest spot on this very noisy traffic junction.
Wood had good intentions but the sculpture/memorial was deemed a failure. The real guns were a nod to modernity. The gunners were represented by the nude David. David could appear to look inappropriate, which also suggests that gunmen are inappropriate due to the horror and distress that they cause.
Guns covered in laurel wreaths. Peace silencing the guns. This helps to remind us of the reality of these events, and how they actually impacted peoples lives, and how they still have an impact on peoples lives nowadays.
The central column of light grey Mazzona marble is topped with a 9 feet (2.7 m) high bronze statue of a nude David by Francis Derwent Wood. The nude David is standing in a classical contrapposto pose, with one hand on his hip and the other resting on Goliath’s oversized sword.
The image on the left shows the inscriptions that appear on the front of the memorial, then the image on the right shows the inscriptions that appear on the back of the memorial.
Nude Statue of David holding Goliaths sword in a classical stance. This refers back to other statues/ sculptures that have been created of David by several other artists to resemble similar factors.
To either side of the statue is a real Vickers gun, encased in bronze and laurel-wreathed. The laurel wreath symbolises peace, and that peace has silenced the guns. They have used bronze and marble to create this memorial, as both of these materials are weather resistant and will be able to stay in a good condition over time. It also helps to lengthen the lifetime of the memorial itself, so that this memorial for WW1 can still be used to commemorate soldiers and people that served our country.
To either side, on a lower flaking plinth of the same marble, is a Vickers machine gun, wreathed in laurels. Some sources state that the Vickers guns are real examples, cased in bronze, but the official English Heritage listing casts doubt on that suggestion.
Jagger, Great Western Railway War Memorial The Great Western Railway War Memorial was created by Jagger, and was unveiled in 1922. It is a monument that is located in London, United Kingdom, and is situated halfway along platform 1 at London Paddington station. This monument is made out of bronze and also stone.
Jagger, Great Western Railway War Memorial The Great Western Railway War Memorial is a monument in London, situated halfway along platform 1 at London Paddington Station.
Its dominant feature is a large bronze statue of a British First World War soldier dressed in battle gear, wearing a helmet, woollen scarf, and a greatcoat draped over his shoulders. The soldier is looking down, reading a letter from home.
In 2014, as part of the First World War centenary commemorations, Jagger's GWR Memorial was featured – uncredited – in a project, "Letter to an Unknown Soldier", which invited members of the public to write a letter to the serviceman portrayed by the statue.
To the memory of employees of the Great Western Railway who died during the First World War. Controversially, Jagger originally wanted the statue to stand at ground level on Platform By raising the memorial of the 1, so that the soldier would have stood at floor it gives me the idea of its the same level as all the commuters as they importance to everyone else. waited for their trains. However, this idea was scrapped, possibly because it was felt that this might be too strong an image – as The memorial was unveiled on Armistice Day On the stone there are two stylised reliefs of if the dead were re-appearing amongst the Saturday 11th November 1922 by Viscount the emblems of the Royal Navy (rope and living – and the memorial was raised up on Churchill, two years after the body of “The anchor) and the Royal Air Force (eagle in flight). a plinth and placed in its current position Unknown Warrior” had been interred with great Inside the plinth a sealed casket has been put against the station wall. This position was ceremony in Westminster Abbey. The inscription there, which was made at the GWR's Swindon originally right next to the original entrance on the statue was later updated to include Great Works, containing a vellum roll upon which was of the station, so everyone travelling Western Railway employees who were killed inscribed the names of the 2,524 men who through Paddington would have passed the during the Second World War. gave their lives. statue. Its position right on the platform would also inevitably have reminded The coat coming away from To commemorate the founding of the Army Post Office Corps in 1882, contemporary viewers of Paddington the figure itself helps to its successor the Royal Engineers, commissioned Jill Tweed and Mike Station’s important role in the transporting make it look realistic and as Smith to sculpt a life-size statue of the Great Western Railway War of troops during the First World War, if the soldier is actually the, Memorial. The statue was called ‘Letter from Home’ and was unveiled particularly in connecting London with all of this is also created by the at Inglis Barracks, Mill Hill, London on 16 July 1982 by Queen the West Country. In this context, Jagger’s immense detail that has Elizabeth II. In 2007 the statue was moved to RAF Northolt. statue is as much “life-like” as it is symbolic been included in this piece. – it gave form to very recent memories of both live soldiers and dead ones. The memorial was unveiled on Armistice Day in 1922 by Viscount Churchill. The stonework was designed by the architect Thomas. Tait, and the bronze figure was designed by the sculptor Charles Sergeant Jagger.
Jagger, Great Western Railway War Memorial Jagger's signature has been inscribed on the plinth, he did this to leave his mark on his monument.
The image on the left shows a closeup of the soldier reading a letter, the vast detail helps to create realistic facial expressions and bodily features.
There is a sealed casket inside the plinth, which was made at the GWR's Swindon Works, containing a vellum with the names of the 2,524 people who gave their lives. From the side of this memorial you can see how realistic it appears to the viewers, as the detail and the small features that the artist has included create a life-like effect. This makes you realise the full reality of the war and the soldiers that were part of it.
The image on the left shows what the Great Western Railway War Memorial looks like when it is surrounded by wreaths that are placed to commemorate the soldiers and what they did for our country during World War 1, as well as the deaths that took place.
Inside the waiting room behind the memorial is a plaque marking the unveiling of the memorial, which includes the inscription: THE GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY WAR MEMORIAL ON PLATFORM No 1 IMMEDIATELY OUTSIDE THIS ROOM WAS UNVEILED ON ARMISTICE DAY, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 11TH 1922 BY THE RT. HON VISCOUNT CHURCHILL, G.C.V.O. AND DEDICATED BY HIS GRACE THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY. THE BRONZE FIGURE WAS EXECUTED BY MR. C.S. JAGGER, M.C., R.B.S. AND THE ARCHITECTURAL WORK BY MR. T.S.TAIT A.R.I.B.A.
The cream marble that surrounds the figure is a contrast to the dark sculpture and also the dark areas that surround the cream area. This contrast also helps the dark soldier figure to stand out to the viewers and attracts your attention, if the background was dark it would not stand out to the eye.
On the stone there are two reliefs of the emblems of the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force.
This roll of honour is hidden inside the plinth in a sealed casket which was made at the GWR’s Swindon Works. It lists the names of all 2,524 employees who died in the First World War.
Some people think that the dark doorway which frames the soldier represents the entrance to a trench dug-out; some people think it represents the entrance to a tomb.
The inscriptions on the plinth read: ‘IN HONOUR OF THOSE WHO SERVED IN THE WORLD WARS 1914 † 1918 1939 † 1945 3312 MEN AND WOMEN OF THE GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR KING AND COUNTRY.
Charles Jagger, The Royal Artillery Monument The Royal Artillery Monument by Charles Jagger was completed in 1925 and is made out of bronze and granite. It is located near Hyde Park, London and is dedicated to casualties in the Royal Regiment of Artillery in the First World War.
Charles Jagger, The Royal Artillery Monument The Royal Artillery Memorial is a stone memorial at Hyde Park Corner in London, dedicated to casualties in the Royal Regiment of Artillery in the First World War. The memorial was designed by Charles Jagger and Lionel Pearson, and features a giant sculpture of a BL 9.2-inch Mk I howitzer upon a large plinth of Portland stone, with stone reliefs depicting scenes from the conflict. Four bronze figures of artillery men are positioned around the outside of the memorial. The memorial is famous for its realist contrast with other First World War memorials, such as the Cenotaph designed by Edwin Lutyens, and attracted much public debate during the 20th century. The memorial is 43 feet long, 21 feet wide and 30 feet high; the pedestal and the one-third oversized replica of a BL 9.2-inch howitzer, modelled on a gun in the Imperial War Museum, that sits on top of it are made of Portland stone. Cast by the A. B. Burton foundry, four bronze figures are placed on each side of the memorial: a driver to the west side, an artillery captain on the east, a shell carrier to the south, and a dead soldier on the north. Carved stone reliefs show various detailed military scenes from the First World War. The memorial's main inscription on the west and east faces reads "In proud remembrance of the forty-nine thousand and seveny-six [sic] of all ranks of the Royal Regiment of Artillery who gave their lives for King and country in the Great War 1914—1919". This monument was erected in the same year as the Machine Guns Corp but is very different. This monument again was built to commemorate the First World war is sombrely reflective rather than warlike. The First World War, which took place between 1914 and 1918, saw the extensive use of artillery, particularly on the Western Front. Technical advances, combined with the relatively static nature of trench warfare, made these guns a key element of the conflict: over half the casualties in the war were caused by artillery. Artillery guns and their crews were themselves targets, however, and 49,076 members of the Royal Artillery died during the conflict. In the years after the war, many former servicemen, including gunners, found the scale of the losses difficult to deal with, or felt that the events challenged their trust in the political leadership that had led them into the war. Visual reminders of the conflict were often avoided: mutilated servicemen, for example, were banned in the 1920s from joining in veterans' marches, and those with facial injuries often hid them in public.
A sense of weight is created by the ghostly surreal white stone that contrast with the dark bronze figures. These dark figures gives me the impression that Jagger wanted to show the darkness of soldiers, due to the deaths and fighting that is involved in the job.
Charles Jagger, The Royal Artillery Monument
There was intense pressure to incorporate symbols of peace, but he rejected. This suggests that he doesn’t want a fake representation of what it was like, instead he wants to show exactly what it was like during these times and what everyone had to go through.
These figures are lightly carved on the plinth, they contrast with the still and calm soldiers and are scenes full of the energy and chaos of war. These figures are also dressed in their real war uniforms and using real WW1 weapons not classically inspired like the David figure from the Machine Guns Corp memorial. This reality also enhances the effect of the monument, as it reminds you how real these events actually are. The bronze soldiers that stand upon the monument are not on parade, or even in combat, this was a modern idea. Instead they are most likely to be on the monument to represent the people who served for our country, and the roles that they had to carry out.
He has carved a Howitzer gun rather than use a real one, this suggests that he wants a representation of the gun rather than a gun itself. As a real gun could suggest more fighting and war. The Howitzer gun is also pointing towards the Somme in France.
The soldiers are thoughtful or mournful, which portrays how they must have felt, during the terrifying and lifechanging event that they were part of.
One of the bronze figures represents crucifixion, due to the position they are stood in. There arms are spread out with their legs together, this symbolises the deaths of soldiers as they are dying for our country, as if they are being crucified.
The most controversial figure is on the north side, with a sculpture of a gunner who has lost his life. Jagger was criticised for this, for illustrating the horrors of war. Even though Jagger is only trying to portray the real events and effects of war. The engravings below contain a vast amount of detail that helps to portray a realistic idea of the war and the events that occurred during it.
Sir Edwin Lutyens. The Cenotaph The Cenotaph is a war memorial situated in Whitehall, London and was unveiled in 1920. It has been made using Portland stone and it has been designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens. It is 35 feet (11 m) high and weighs 120 tonnes.
Sir Edwin Lutyens. The Cenotaph A ‘cenotaph’ is an "empty tomb". The word derives from the Greek word meaning "empty", and "tomb“. It was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, who conceived the idea from the name of a structure constructed from Portland stone between 1919 and 1920 by Holland, Hannen & Cubitts. The current monument replaced Lutyens's identical wood-and-plaster cenotaph erected in 1919 for the commissioned by David Lloyd George. It is undecorated saved for a carved wreath on each end and the words "The Glorious Dead", chosen by Rudyard Kipling. It commemorates specifically the victims of the First World War, but is used to commemorate all of the dead in all wars in which British servicemen have fought. The dates of the First World War and the Second World War are inscribed on it in Roman numerals. He was a mainly an architect, producing Modernist structures. Designed by Edwin Lutyens, the permanent structure was built from Portland stone between 1919 and 1920 by Holland, Hannen & Cubitts, replacing Lutyens' earlier wood-andplaster cenotaph in the same location. An annual National Service of Remembrance is held at the site on Remembrance Sunday, the closest Sunday to 11 November (Armistice Day) each year. Lutyens' cenotaph design has been reproduced elsewhere in the UK and other countries including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Bermuda and Hong Kong.
There are no figures on this memorial, it is flanked on each side by various flags of the United Kingdom which Lutyens had wanted to be carved in stone, although Lutyens was overruled and cloth flags were used.
It is flanked on each side by various flags of the United Kingdom which Lutyens had wanted to be carved in stone. Although Lutyens was overruled and cloth flags were used, his later Rochdale cenotaph (unveiled 26 November 1922) has stone flags. In the years following 1919, the Cenotaph displayed a Union Flag, a White Ensign and a Red Ensign on one side and a Union Flag, a White Ensign and a Blue Ensign on the other side. It was undecorated apart from a carved wreath on each end and a smaller carved wreath on top. The words "The Glorious Dead" are inscribed twice, once below the wreaths on each end. Above the wreaths at each end are inscribed the dates of the First World War in Roman numerals (1914 – MCMXIV; and 1919 – MCMXIX). The wreaths at each end are 5 feet (1.5 m) in diameter, while the one on top is 3.6 feet (1.1 m) in diameter. The sides of the Cenotaph are not parallel, but if extended would meet at a point some 980 feet above the ground. Similarly, the "horizontal" surfaces are in fact sections of a sphere whose centre would be 900 feet below ground. This element of the design, called entasis, was not present in the temporary structure and was added by Lutyens as a refinement when designing the permanent structure. The architects waived their fee for designing the cenotaph, meaning that it cost £7,325 to build, a sum equivalent to £255,332 when adjusted by inflation in 2010.
The plans and designs for The Cenotaph‌
Charles Jagger, No Man’s Land No Man’s Land by Charles Jagger was created between 1919 – 20, and it is made out of bronze. The size of this memorial is 126 cm x 307cm.
This relief sculpture relates back to real-life, as Jagger was there himself. Therefore he knows first hand the severity of this event. Which enhances the emotions and feelings that are portrayed within this relief sculpture. In 1914 he gave up the Prix de Rome to enlist in the army.
Charles Jagger, No Man’s Land Shows a 'listening post' where a soldier would hide among the dead bodies, broken stretchers and barbed wire of No Man's Land, in order to listen for the enemy. Jagger regularly illustrated the horrors of War, as this showed people the true reality of war and what it caused and the effects of it that are unseen to some.
Jagger fought in France and was wounded, so he knew the realities of war. Jagger was shot twice. He was wounded at Gallipoli and later seriously at Neuve Chapelle in 1918 and awarded the Military Cross.
It’s hoped that the campaign will enable the gallery to conserve the Jagger frieze, which is currently in a fragile state, and also allow the Hepworth to grow its collection and provide digital access to the works it owns. Although the frieze has now been put back into storage, where it has remained since its last showing in 1985 at the Imperial War Museum in London, members of the public can look forward to seeing it again in September when it forms part of a new exhibition by contemporary artist Toby Ziegler to coincide with the centenary of the First World War.
The use of the dark material helps to enhance the detail and the images within the piece, as this then encourages viewers to look closer at the relief sculpture, due to the story behind it. It also helps to show the intensity of war and the disastrous consequences that came from it. During the First World War, Jagger served with the army and was shot twice, once seriously. This memorial relief shows a 'listening post' where a soldier would hide among the dead bodies, broken stretchers and barbed wire of No Man's Land, in order to listen for the enemy. The original plaster had a verse appended, but this was suppressed in the bronze, because it was unclear whether the artist intended it to be ironic: O, little mighty band that stood for England That with our bodies for a living shield Guarded her slow awakening.
The plaster frieze, created by the designer of the Royal Artillery Memorial in London’s Hyde Park Corner – widely regarded as one of the nation’s finest war memorials – was shown at the recent launch of The Hepworth Wakefield’s new fundraising campaign, I’m Yours.
The frieze has a long association with the north. Simon Wallis, director of The Hepworth, explained: “Charles Sergeant Jagger was one of Britain’s foremost war memorial sculptors. The former Wakefield Art Gallery acquired Jagger’s original plaster frieze through publicly raised funds in 1936. Nearly 80 years later we hope the public will once again choose to support this pivotal powerful work and pledge funds towards out vital programme of conversation and digitisation of the collection.”
The low-relief frieze presents a stark vision of trench warfare and is inscribed with lines from female war poet Beatrice Brice-Miller’s poem, ‘To the Vanguard’. It says: ‘Oh little mighty Force that stood for England/That, with your bodies for a living shield/ guarded her slow awaking.’ This inscription is missing from the bronze casts of the frieze that can be seen at Tate Britain and the Imperial War Museum. No-one is entirely sure why the words were removed, but historians believe it may be because Jagger was concerned about the provocative nature of the lines.
Paul Cummins and Tom Piper. Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red was designed by Paul Cummins and Tom Piper in 2014, was a work of installation art placed in the moat of the Tower of London, England, between July and November 2014.
Paul Cummins and Tom Piper. Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red was a work of installation art placed in the moat of the Tower of London, England, between July and November 2014, commemorating the centenary of the outbreak of World War I. It consisted of 888,246 ceramic red poppies, each intended to represent one British or Colonial serviceman killed in the War. The artist was Paul Cummins, with setting by stage designer Tom Piper. The work's title was taken from the first line of a poem by an unknown World War I soldier. The Tower of London moat, in which the work was set, was used in the early days of the war as a training ground for City of London workers who had enlisted to fight – the "Stockbrokers' Battalion“. The work consisted of a sea of ceramic red poppies, which were individually hand-made at Cummins' ceramics works in Derbyshire, and some at Johnson Tiles in Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent. The poppies were added to the installation progressively by volunteers. The 497,000 kg of the Etruria Marl-based Etruscan red earthenware used, as well as the majority of the manufacturing equipment and materials, were supplied by Potclays Limited in Stoke-on-Trent
The work's title, and Cummins' inspiration for the work, came from a poem by an unknown World War I soldier from Derbyshire, who joined up in the early days of the war and died in Flanders. The poem begins: "The blood swept lands and seas of red, / Where angels dare to tread / ... ". The poem was contained in the soldier's unsigned will, found by Cummins among old records in Chesterfield. The sea of flowers was arranged to resemble a pool of blood which appeared to be pouring out of a bastion window (the "Weeping Window").
At around sunset each day between 1 September and 10 November, the names of 180 World War I service personnel, nominated by members of the public to appear on a Roll of Honour, were read aloud by a Yeoman Warder, followed by the Last Post bugle call. Yeoman Warder’s are ceremonial guardians of the Tower of London. The first poppy was planted on 17 July 2014, and the work was unveiled on 5 August (the centenary of Britain's entry into the war). A team of about 17,500 volunteers put the poppies in place. The last one was planted on 11 November 2014 (Remembrance Day), by a 13-year-old cadet, Harry Hayes, from the Combined Cadet Force (CCF) of Reading Blue Coat School. After that day a team of about 8000 volunteers began removing the flowers. Members of the public had been able to pre-order the ceramic poppies for £25 each, with a share of the proceeds (estimated at more than £15 million) going to six service charities: COBSEO, Combat Stress, Coming Home, Help for Heroes, the Royal British Legion and SSAFA.
Paul Cummins and Tom Piper. Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red The installation was visited by the Princes William and Harry and the Duchess of Cambridge on the day of its opening, and by the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh on 16 October. The Queen later spoke about the memorial in her annual Christmas Message, broadcast on 25 December 2014. In all, an estimated five million people saw the memorial, and the huge visitor demand saw Prime Minister David Cameron and other politicians join calls to try and extend the period for which the installation remained at the Tower so that more visitors would be able to pay their respects. Cummins and Tower officials resisted such calls, stating that the transience of the installation was a key part of the artistic concept, and that the poppies would be removed as planned and distributed to their purchasers.
A campaign was launched in December 2014 to bring the sculptural elements to Stoke-on-Trent during the tour itinerary as the majority of materials and much of the piece itself were manufactured in the city.
In recognition of the work, Paul Cummins and Tom Piper were both awarded the MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2015 New Year Honours. Although the installation struck a chord with the public, it received negative reactions from some press critics. A. A. Gill of The Sunday Times called it "impressive" but "curiously bland". The Guardian's art critic Jonathan Jones described it as having a "false nobility" and being a "prettified and toothless" memorial. Tom Piper said in response that "... it is a remarkably good thing that it is so accessible. We should not be trying to create something that is difficult to understand." The figure on the left is Tom Piper who was the set designer and on the right is Paul Cummins who was the ceramic artist. The seeds of the project can be seen in the ceramic roses that Cummins created during the Cultural Olympiad in 2012, one of the Unlimited projects by disabled artists. The idea for the poppies came as he went through first world war archives in Chesterfield records office. By chance he found the will of an unknown soldier who died at Flanders which contained the line (he uses an app to have things read to him): “The blood-swept lands and seas of red, where angels fear to tread.” “It was an accident I came across it and it just sparked something in my mind,” said Cummins. “I am horrendously dyslexic and I do see things in a different way to everyone else, because words to me are colour. To see the actual note brought back memories of red.”
What do others think of this installation? Jonathon Jones The following quotes are quotes from an article that Jonathon Jones wrote based on his opinion of this installation by Paul Cummins and Tom Piper: • “I accidentally got swept into a tide of humanity at the weekend, or to put it another way, couldn’t move for crowds. What was going on? Why were so many people choking the streets of the City of London, where shops are closed on Saturdays, looking for a bite to eat?...... It turned out to be overspill from a vast tumult at the Tower of London, where it is expected that four million people will visit by 11 November to see its moat full of red ceramic poppies.” • “It is deeply disturbing that a hundred years on from 1914, we can only mark this terrible war as a national tragedy. Nationalism – the 19th-century invention of nations as an ideal, as romantic unions of blood and patriotism – caused the great war. What does it say about Britain in 2014 that we still narrowly remember our own dead and do not mourn the German or French or Russian victims? The crowds come to remember – but we should not be remembering only our own. It’s the inward-looking mood that lets Ukip thrive.” • “But that’s probably an over interpretation, because the spectacle of all these red poppies is emptier than that. In spite of the mention of blood in its title, this is a deeply aestheticised, prettified and toothless war memorial. It is all dignity and grace. There is a fake nobility to it, and this seems to be what the crowds have come for – to be raised up into a shared reverence for those heroes turned frozen flowers……….What a lie. The first world war was not noble. War is not noble. A meaningful mass memorial to this horror would not be dignified or pretty. It would be gory, vile and terrible to see. The moat of the Tower should be filled with barbed wire and bones. That would mean something.” Jonathon Jones has a strong opinion that this instalment of the poppies is an incorrect interpretation of war, as it doesn’t show the full severity and consequences of war. This then doesn’t give viewers a full idea of how catastrophic and life-changing war was for all of our soldiers and people who were part of the war.
John Daymond & Son Swindon Cenotaph John Daymond & Son, Swindon Cenotaph was unveiled in 1920, Swindon. It has been made using Portland stone.
"All the approaches to the Town Hall were densely packed with people," reported the Swindon Advertiser at the unveiling of the cenotaph on Saturday October 30, 1920. "Especially touching was the scene when the relatives of the fallen came forward to deposit their floral tributes at the base of the memorial," the front-page account continued. In his dedicatory speech, Alderman S.E. Walter, Mayor of Swindon, spoke of how "upwards of 6,000 men went out from their homes in Swindon to fight for what they believed to be the liberty and salvation of the world."
John Daymond & Son Swindon Cenotaph
In 1919, a flagpole war memorial was the catalyst for widespread rioting in Swindon’s town by those who believed it to be disrespectful to the war dead. The flagpole was later burned down and was eventually replaces by a wooden cenotaph, the existing cenotaph was introduced in 1920 and is made of stone.
Regent’s Circus c. 1905- before the cenotaph
An ambitious scheme launched by the then Mayor, Alderman C.A. Plaister in May 1919 was for a memorial hall. A public appeal was announced and a donation of £100 was made by both Alfred Manners and Major F.P. Goddard to get the ball rolling. Fund raising limped along to £400 "when the fount of donations apparently ran dry," reported the Advertiser. Alternative suggestions were invited and at a meeting held on December 4, 1919 the newly appointed Mayor, Alderman Walters revealed a decision had been made "to lay out the old canal site as a pleasure ground and to erect a cenotaph." The estimated cost of the cenotaph was £6,000 while the council would bear the cost of "beautifying the canal site." Quite what happened to that plan is not known but by July of the following year the cost of the cenotaph had been revised at £1,000. However donations still failed to follow. Then the Swindon Advertiser came to the rescue launching an imaginative new appeal more in keeping with the average person's pocket with the "shilling fund," raising 10,882 shillings in the first fortnight. Money continued to roll in throughout the summer of 1920. As workmen removed the fountain near the Town Hall in preparation for work to begin, the fund topped 19,000 shillings. Fund raising Swindonians included Walter Hook, manager at the Arcadia Picture House whose contribution totalled 334 shillings by the means of children's collecting cards. The fund eventually closed at the end of September having raised 22,158 shillings, exceeding the target of £1,000 by over £132. John Daymond & Son of Vauxhall Bridge Road, London, who completed the work in less than two months, erected the 20ft high Portland stone memorial. At the unveiling in time for the Armistice Day commemorations the memorial remained unfinished with the words 'To the memory of the men of this Borough who fell in the Great War 1914-1918' yet to be carved. In 2002 it was agreed to add the words 'all wars and conflicts since 1945.'
Battle of Britain Memorial, Folkestone The Battle of Britain Memorial is located is sited on the White Cliffs at Capel-le-Ferne, near Folkestone, on the coast of Kent. It was designed by Harry Gray and was unveiled on the 9th July 1993.
Battle of Britain Memorial
Battle of Britain Memorial The Battle of Britain Memorial is a monument to aircrew who flew in the Battle of Britain. It is sited on the White Cliffs at Capel-le-Ferne, near Folkestone, on the coast of Kent. Paths are in the form of a large propeller-shape, with the figure of a seated pilot sitting in the centre. This seated pilot was carved by Harry Gray. The propeller shape has lead the monument to be considered a hill figure. In October 2010 HRH The Duchess of Cornwall unveiled a bust of Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith Park by sculptor Will Davies at the site.
The Battle of Britain Memorial Trust raised enough money to build the new visitor centre. Which has been built in the shape of a Spitfire Wing and has been named ‘The Wing’. If you look at the new visitor centre from a birds eye view you are able to get the full impact of the shape and style of the building, as well as the idea behind it.
The site can also be opened on request for school visits or on other occasions, this helps to raise awareness of the people that fought for our country, and helps the history to live on and helps a lot of people to be aware of it. It enables the fighters to be remembered for what they did, the lives they gave.
The Hawker Hurricane Mk l replica US-X has been most generously donated to the Battle of Britain Memorial Trust by the Tory Family Foundation. It represents as precisely as possible the 56 Squadron aircraft in which 20-year-old Pilot Officer Geoffrey Page was shot down and terribly burned on 12 August 1940.
It was initiated by the Battle of Britain Memorial Trust, and was opened by Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother on the 9th July, 1993. Also on the site are replicas of a Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire and the Christopher Foxley-Norris Memorial Wall, on which appears the names of the almost 3,000 fighter aircrew who flew in the Battle. The poem on the right is located on a wall to the left of the stone wall with all of the names on. This poem help to commemorate the aircrew and remind you of what they faced, it was also written my a fighter itself. Maintained by the Battle of Britain Memorial Trust, the site at Capel-le-Ferne is dedicated to Churchill’s famous “Few” who fought in the skies overhead to keep this country free from invasion. At the edge of the car park, greeting visitors to the site, is a low wall bearing Churchill’s famous comment: “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few”. The wall was donated by the Beaverbrook Foundation in memory of all those who fought in the Battle of Britain and was unveiled by Lady Aitken, Sir Max Aitken’s widow, in July 1999. Sir Max commanded 601 Squadron during the Battle.
Martyrs Memorial, Oxford Martyrs Memorial is located in Oxford, England. It was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott and was completed in 1843, and it has been made out of stone.
Martyrs Memorial, Oxford The Martyrs’ Memorial, designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott, has stood as a focal point at the south end of St Giles since its completion in 1843, when it replaced “a picturesque but tottering old house”. Oxford City Council and the Preservation Trust enabled the memorial to be fully restored in 2003. The Martyrs' Memorial is a stone monument standing at the intersection of the southern end of St Giles Street in Oxford. It commemorates three Anglican bishops who were burned at the stake under Queen Mary in the 1550s: Thomas Cranmer, Nicholas Ridley, and Hugh Latimer. Who were the Martyrs? In 1553 when the Roman Catholic Queen Mary came to the throne, Thomas Cranmer (Archbishop of Canterbury), Nicholas Ridley (Archbishop of London), and Hugh Latimer (Bishop of Worcester) were summoned to appear before a commission in the Church of St Mary the Virgin in Oxford to be examined for their alleged Protestant heresies. Unable to admit to a belief in transubstantiation, they were all found guilty. Ridley and Latimer were burnt at the stake on 16 October 1555 in the ditch outside the city wall (which ran alongside St Michael at the Northgate Church). Archbishop Cranmer, who had been given longer to appeal, was forced to watch, and wrote a recantation. None the less he was taken from the Bocardo gaol at the Northgate to the ditch on 21 March 1556 and also burnt to death. The records of the City of Oxford show that the Bailiffs of the city petitioned the Archbishop of Canterbury for the payment of the expenses incurred in dealing with the three martyrs. Oxford had looked after the former Archbishop, Thomas Cranmer, well: his expenses included the cost of wine, figs, oysters, veal, and almonds, as well as his barber and laundry charges; but the last items on this list were the hundred wood faggots and 50 furze faggots that formed his living pyre. On the Memorial, Cranmer faces north holding a Bible; Ridley faces east; and Latimer looks to the west, with his arms folded across his chest.
The inscription on the base reads: “To the Glory of God, and in grateful commemoration of His servants, Thomas Cranmer, Nicholas Ridley, Hugh Latimer, Prelates of the Church of England, who near this spot yielded their bodies to be burned, bearing witness to the sacred truths which they had affirmed and maintained against the errors of the Church of Rome, and rejoicing that to them it was given not only to believe in Christ, but also to suffer for His sake; this monument was erected by public subscription in the year of our Lord God, MDCCCXLI.”
Why was the Memorial erected? The Martyrs’ Memorial was erected almost 300 years after the event it commemorates, and says as much about the religious controversies of the 1840s as those of the 1550s. In the 1840s the Anglican Low Church was profoundly alarmed at the burgeoning Newmanite or Tractarian movement, which sought to prove that the key doctrines of the Church of England were catholic. As a riposte, their Low Church opponents, led by the Reverend Golightly, raised funds for setting up the Martyrs’ Memorial to remind Oxford and the nation that the Church of England’s founding fathers had been martyred by Roman Catholics.