|
Title:
|
Project for the Memorial to the Duke of Wellington
|
Artist: |
Baron Carlo Marochetti
|
The Duke of Wellington died on 14 September 1852. The first concern of the government, following the funeral, was with the actual sarcophagus in the crypt of St Paul's Cathedral, and even this was only completed, to designs by F.C. Penrose in April 1858 (Building News, IV, 23 April 1858, pp.424). In November 1854 Sir William Molesworth, the First Commissioner for Works, acting on the advice of Sir Charles Eastlake, sent out requests to Marochetti, Gibson, Foley and Baily to enter a limited competition for a more visible memorial above ground at St Paul's (TNA, WO 1/44/685). Both Marochetti and Gibson declined to compete, though Marochetti offered his services if the competition failed to produce an acceptable design (TNA, WO 6/134/1). Foley and Baily sent in two designs each , but were informed on 31 May 1855 that none of their designs had been accepted (TNA,WO 6/134/1). By this time rumour was already rife that Molesworth intended to give the job to Marochetti. Meetings to discuss the positioning of the memorial in St Paul's with Prince Albert and Dean Milman in attendance, suggest that this may well have been the case (Letter in the Royal Archives). In April 1856, a new First Commissioner, Sir Benjamin Hall, announced an open competition, for which British artists should have their entries in by 1 June and foreign artists by 25 June 1857 (Misc. journals, 8 Sept. 1856). By the time this competition had been announced, Marochetti's project for the Duke's memorial had been described in some detail in the Times (April 16, 1856) , amongst other monumental projects which he had in hand.
The design consisted of a massive figure of Victory, with wings outspread, and holding a sword, seated in front of the bronze doors of the tomb, and looking over her shoulder towards it. Above the door was to be an equally colossal equestrian figure of the Duke. The bronze doors were to be flanked by Ionic columns, whose simplicity was designed to stand out from the Corinthian order framing the bays of St Paul's. Against the entablature of each Ionic column were seated figures of old men, their backs resting against the Corinthian shaft just below the capital, and with their legs and draperies overhanging the frieze. One of these was to hold the Field-Marshal's baton and sword, the other his coronet and robes, symbolising, as a later description in the Times noted, "civil and military honour". Whilst the principle figures were to be in bronze, all else was to be in marble and alabaster, designed, as the reporter wrote, to bring out "those rich effects of colour which no one knows better than Baron Marochetti how to arrange". The reporter was struck especially by the contrast in the treatment of the wings of Victory with the wings of the angels on the Scutari Memorial, which Marochetti was completing at this time. There the wings were "in perfect repose", here "they are outspread, restlessly fluttering, ready to fly away". Both were examples of "the singular felicity with which the Baron uses wings" (Times, 16 April, 1856) .
Even had Marochetti wished to enter the competition, the publication of this description of his design would have flouted the principle of anonymity always observed in such competitions. The open competition attracted eighty-three entries, and the winners were announced on 7 August 1857. First and second prizes went to William Calder Marshall and William Frederick Woodington, whilst Alfred Stevens, who was eventually to secure the commission came joint-fourth. Stevens was only chosen after a meeting between the new First Commissioner, Lord John Manners, and the cathedral architect had considered the leading entries in relation to the proposed site. Despite all this there is evidence that Marochetti was still angling for the commission. Even after Prince Albert had assured him that there was no way in which any minister could now select his design, Marochetti continued to promote his conception (information from the Royal Archives). In the Summer of 1859, he set up his model for the figure of Victory in the grounds of Apsley House, where it could be viewed from Rotten Row (Illustrated London News, 25 June, 1859).
Although Marochetti failed to secure the commission, he may have been gratified to observe certain similarities in Stevens's design to what he, Marochetti, had earlier proposed for the tomb of Napoleon for the Invalides. The inclusion of an equestrian portrait of the Duke was also common ground between Stevens's and Marochetti's designs for the Wellington commemoration. This was something to which the Dean of St Paul's, Dean Milman had always taken very strong exception. In the event, this feature of Stevens's memorial was not to be completed until some time after his death, though it was finally carried out in conformity with his sketch model.
(A fuller consideration of the relationship between Marochetti's projects for the tomb of Napoleon and those for the tomb of the Duke of Wellington can be found in P.Ward-Jackson, "Tombs of Napoleon and the Duke of Wellington", in Church Monuments (Journal of the Church Monuments Society), vol. XIX, 2004, pp.115-129. For a general account of the tomb's history, see John Physick, The Wellingtron Monument, London, 1970)
|
|
|
Material(s): |
|
Medium: |
Unassigned |
Finish: |
- |
Technique: |
- |
Genre: |
Unassigned
|
Colours: |
|
Year: |
1856 |
Height: |
0 metres |
Width: |
0 metres |
Depth: |
0 metres |
|
Key: |
2106 |
Acc. No.: |
2106 |
Col. No.: |
2106 |
Number of views: |
3460 |
|
|