Erection date: 25/11/1952
Edith Sitwell reads a book while blithely crossing a chasm on a bridge made of a single branch. She is being met by two of the four winds and a dachshund-like creature with a forked tongue. A raven swoops in, ready to fly away with the book.
Her sixth sense is possibly how she is safely negotiating the crossing, but the rest of the symbolism escapes us.
Site: National Gallery - Anrep mosaics - Virtues (15 memorials)
WC2, Trafalgar Square, National Gallery - Staircase Hall - North Vestibule
See National Gallery - Anrep mosaics - Muses for general information about these mosaic floors.
The 1954 'Modern Virtues' is in a style very different from that of the earlier 'Muses' floor, with scenes depicted inside frames which carry each scene’s title. These panels appear to be laid on a mosaic floor with a geometric pattern, on which autumnal leaves have fallen – trompe l'oeil in mosaic.
This 'Modern Virtues' floor was gifted (which we take to mean funded) by Maud Russell and opened on 25 November 1952.
To avoid database clutter we have put the Creator links on just the page for the Anrep panel.
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