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Title:
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Prince Albert on Horseback
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Artist: |
Baron Carlo Marochetti
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The possibility of raising a monument to Prince Albert in Glasgow was first mooted shortly after his death, at a meeting called by the city's Lord Provost, Peter Clouston in February 1862. Donations were received and a sub-committee was set up to discuss the site. There was much debate on what form the monument might take, and a proposal was submitted by Alexander 'Greek' Thomson for a building similar to the Temple of Theseus in Athens, containing a statue of the Prince, to be erected in Kelvingrove Park. However, at a meeting in February 1863 it was suggested that the monument be an equestrian portrait. Objections to the militaristic connotations of such an image were set aside when it was revealed that the Queen favoured an equestrian statue. She further let it be known that she wished Marochetti to be the sculptor.
Serious consideration was given to creating a new site for the statue in St George's (now Nelson Mandela) Place, but this project was abandoned in favour of George Square, where it was decided to have Queen Victoria's equestrian statue join it. For this purpose modifications were made to the design of the Queen's statue to bring it more into conformity with the one of the Prince. The inauguration of the Prince's statue took place on 18 Oct. 1866, the unveiling performed by Prince Alfred.
The reliefs on the statue's pedestal represent, on the south side, the Industrial Arts, with Education and Industry, shown reclining on either side of a locomotive accompanied respectively by Agriculture and Commerce, and on the north side by a composition of figures representing the Fine Arts, with personifications of Music, Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, all of whom are female with the exception of Sculpture, represented by a male figure.
In 1888 the Queen ordered a replica of the statue to be erected in Windsor Great Park, as an expression of "her great pleasure in the Women's Jubilee Offering". This replica was carried out by Joseph Edgar Boehm.
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Material(s): |
Bronze
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Medium: |
Unassigned |
Finish: |
- |
Technique: |
Cast |
Genre: |
Portrait statuette (Equestrian)
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Location: |
Glasgow, George Square, , ,
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Colours: |
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Year: |
1866 |
Height: |
2.44 metres |
Width: |
0 metres |
Depth: |
0 metres |
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Key: |
2208 |
Acc. No.: |
2208 |
Col. No.: |
2208 |
Number of views: |
2474 |
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