Statue

Frieze of Parnassus - Michelangelo - painter

Erection date: 1872

Inscription

Michael Angelo

Site: Albert Memorial & The Frieze of Parnassus (52 memorials)

SW7, Kensington Road

The monument, officially titled the Prince Consort National Memorial, celebrates Victorian achievement and Prince Albert's passions and interests. It was commissioned by Queen Victoria and designed by George Gilbert Scott, was built 1864-72, and the statue of Albert was installed in 1875. Even for a Victorian edifice the excess of decoration is extraordinary - we suspect the design suffered mission creep.

Marble figures representing Europe, Asia, Africa and America stand at each corner of the memorial. Each of these groups comprises an animal typical of that continent and a few noble but stereotypical people from the region.

On the Frieze of Parnassus are depicted 168 men, 1 woman and two dogs, gender unknown. The woman is Nitocris, a historically questionable pharaoh who, it is claimed, built the third pyramid at Giza.

The men are segregated by field of fame. Reading anticlockwise from the south-west corner: Armstead carved the south and east sides, populated with musicians, poets, musicians, painters, grouped by nationality; Philip carved the north and west sides with architects and sculptors, cleverly arranged chronologically so that the Egyptian architects turn the corner in the same space with Egyptian sculptors.

Remarkably the whole Frieze was carved on site. In the selection of the figures, only one exception to the "must be dead" rule was allowed: George Gilbert Scott himself. Actually only 167 men are represented, one of them twice: Michelangelo as a painter and again as a sculptor. The dogs are Hogarth's Trump and a generic greyhound associated with Veronese.

Normally one cannot get close enough to the Frieze to take satisfactory photos but in May 2017 we joined a tour of the monument which gave us the proximity needed. We photographed all the figures in the Frieze but have decided to publish only (with a few exceptions) those already on London Remembers. Many of the others are little-known outside their field and have no connection to London. See Wikipedia for the entire list and some good photos of the whole Frieze.

The monument has many other figures of an allegorical nature, which are well covered at The Library Time Machine. Another page at the Library Time Machine has some interesting photos of the monument under construction.

Ian Visits managed to get a tour of the usually inaccessible undercroft, the structure that supports this monument.

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

Subjects commemorated i

Michelangelo

Sculptor, painter, architect and poet.

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

Created by i

Henry Hugh Armstead

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

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

Also at this site i

Nearby Memorials

FCO - D unknown

FCO - D unknown

SW1, Horse Guards Road, Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The Foreign Office was completed in 1873 to the 1861 designs of Sir George Gilbert Scott, with Sir Matthew Digby Wyatt for the St James’s...

James Wilson - gone

James Wilson - gone

SW1, St James's Street, 25

Marble and said to be 12-foot high but that must be including the pedestal, since in photographs it seems about the same size as anyone s...

2 subjects commemorated, 2 creators
Upon Reflection - peace statue

Upon Reflection - peace statue

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The life-sized statue is a self-portrait by Atherton. Our photos do not show what we found most interesting about this statue: the reali...

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Myddelton statue - N1

Myddelton statue - N1

N1, Islington Green

Myddelton holds a map of the New River in one hand and a spade in the other. Unveiled by Gladstone. The facial features of this memorial...

1 subject commemorated, 4 creators
Frieze of Parnassus - Gainsborough

Frieze of Parnassus - Gainsborough

SW7, Kensington Road

The monument, officially titled the Prince Consort National Memorial, celebrates Victorian achievement and Prince Albert's passions and i...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator

Previously viewed

Morley mosaics - KEW - Margaret Mellor

Morley mosaics - KEW - Margaret Mellor

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1 subject commemorated, 3 creators
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Henry Grey, 3rd Earl Grey

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Anchor Iron Wharf - history

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{On the base of the monument:} Anchor Iron Wharf In 964 King Edgar granted this land to the abbey of St Peter's in Ghent, Flanders. Henry...

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King George's Fields Foundation

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Councillor Doreen Mardon
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