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Article OUR PUBLIC STATUES AND MEMORIALS. ← Page 2 of 3 →
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Our Public Statues And Memorials.
true character as a'little bunble of drapery was discoverable . Of the baldness of the pedestal of this production , and of those of many other similar works , we shall have something to say further on . The statue of tho Duke of Kent , at the upper end of Portland-place , is still more defective than that of Pitt as regards the general treatment of the outline . In the
first place the nearly black statue is placed immediately in front of a mass of equally black London shrubbery , against which it is impossible that its outlines , such as they are , should define themselves with clearness of effect . In tho second , the forms of the figure if / self are so inter muddled with the inevitable cloaky drapery , and further complicated by a square mass of
semi-architectural accessories , that at a short distance the whole becomes an unmeaning and apparently shapeless lump of darkness . The pedestal of this characterless mass of bronze presents no decorative feature to relieve or support it ; indeed , it possesses no feature intended to do so , being merely a cubic mass of granite put together , by means of very careless masonry , as though its only object was that of serving as a rough sort of tablet for the inscription .
Chantrey ' s equestrian statue of George IV ., in Trafalgar-square , is somewhat better , in point of distinctness of outline , than either of the works just described , inasmuch as the artist has found it impossible to put any sort of cloak or toga upon tbe horse , the outline of which tells out , in consequence , with proper distinctness . The figure of the King is , however , betoga'd in what was the
usual fashion , the whole work being , in fact , a weak imitation of the well-known statue of Marcus Aurelius , which all Italian tourists have seen on the Campidoglio at Rome . The other statues of this arena are still less satisfactory . Trafalgar-square seems , in short , destined to become , as was lately observed by a contemporary , a sort of out door " Chamber of Horrors . " The statue
of Napier vulgarises , in a very painful manner , the well remembered aspect of one of the greatest of our modern heroes ,- and that of Haveloek , with its large heavy head , is scarcely less objectionable ; while the statue of Nelson , placed almost out of sight on the top of a column ( disfigured by a very ugly lightning conductor ) , justifies the simple remark of the old Chelsea pensioner , who exclaimed , when first taken to see it , "Why , they ' ve mastheaded the Admiral . "
The masonry ofthe uglier column , on the top of which stands the statue of the Duke of York , is still more coarse and unsightly than that of the Nelson column . In short , we do not seem to be aware of the kind of thing that a public iconic memorial ought to be . Opposite to this is the memorial to the Guards who fell in the Crimea , in which , though the figures of the Guards , below , are in
many respects very excellent , yet the whole fails as a public metropolitan monument , in consequence of the general poverty of the accessories . It has been improved lately , and doubtless the sculptor would willingly have done more . The pedestal is , on two sides , ornamented with bronze shields , bearing the names of Alma , Inkerman , and Sebastopol . These shields are enriched with l
exceedingy well-designed branches of oak ; but they are both precisely alike—both cast in the same mould . It is in this way that we have invariably failed in all our recent monuments of this class . Our artists or our committees do not appear to possess that feeling for rich monumental compositions which so remarkably distinguishes their brother sculptors and architects of the Continent this
. In monument one might imagine that the bronze figure on the top , and the finely modelled group of Guardsmen had been placed where they are in a temporary manner , on a few rude blocks of granite , just roughly prepared , in order to raise them to a proper height for exhibition , while a fitting architectural framework and supports , highly enriched with decorative scul ptures of a suitable character were being prepared for their more permanent location .
In a public memorial of the statue form it is not merely necessary to obtain the statue and place it on a lump of stone of sufficient height ; it is , above all things , important that the statue should be presented to the public in a dignified manner , with such appropriate surroundings and enrichments as are calculated to add sufficient richness and artistic importance to the work as a whole .
Costly and varied materials , abundance of appropriate ornament , and elaborate minuteness of detail , combined with an imposing grandeur of general outline and character , should accompany a statue or general monument intended to perpetuate the memory of those who have deserved well of their country . These should be well conceived andjartistieall ht emblemswithin delicatel
y wroug , y covered borderings and mouldings ; and in important monuments there should also be additional figures secondary to the principal ones , but wrought with equal care and beauty . Such are the legitimate resources of the designer of a grand public memorial . The simple figure of the prince , or hero , or civic worthy , is not capable of much artistic decoration ; and indeed , in
such subjects , simplicity of treatment is generally the most successful , in so far as the figure by itself is concerned . But then it is not a single figure , not a mere family portrait , that we are speaking of ; it is a public memorial—a monument which is intended to be an ornament to the metropolis as well as a honour to departed worth ; and , therefore , the simple portrait figure is not enough .
The simply utilitarian view is not applicable to public monuments . The artistic Greeks , who well understood the theory of decorative and monumental art , did not allow a purely iconic statue to be set up , except in very rare cases , that of Miltiades being one of the very few exceptions . They considered thai the positive features of any individual man could not possess that general ideal beauty which public monuments should possess , and which they sought , not only in the elegance of accessories ' , but iu the idealization of the chief figure itself . The
portrait of Alexander the Great , for instance , appears on his coins idealized as Hercules , his head picturesquely hooded with the skin of the Nemean lion . In the magnificent modern monument , St . Peter's , at Eome , the sepulchral images ofthe Popes of the fifteenth , sixteenth , and seventeenth centuries are but comparatively small features in the georgeous compositions of which they form the
nucleus ; and in most of the exquisite sepulchral monuments of the sixteenth century , especially those which enrich the churches of Italy , Prance , and Spain , the iconic statue of the deceased , though the central object of the composition , is yet but a very small portion of its varied adjuncts and details , or of its general magnificence . In our own days , monuments have arisen in Paris and
other continental cities which vie with those of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries in their display of that true understanding of decorative monumental art without which neither grandeur nor beauty can be made to adorn public works of that class . One might cite the Berlin monument to Frederick the Great , of which a charming model was lately to be seen in the International
Exhibition ; or the magnificent millenic memorial just erected in Bussia , composed of a whole crowd of statuary and countless details of extraordinary richness ; but modern Parisian monuments may serve our purpose better as an example of what such works ought to be . It is now several years since the monument to Moliere was erected in Paris , on the site of the house in ivhich he
was born , in the Eue de Richelieu . The figure of the great dramatic poet forms , of course , the central object of the composition ; but scarcely less important features are the "Tragedy" and "Comedy , " by Pradier ; and these , again , are framed , as it were , in rich surroundings of differently-tinted marbles , heightened in their effect by decorative sculpture and carved borderings , introduced with the most lavish profusion . The whole composition , including delicately-sculptured emblems and other ornamental features , is of large and imposing cha *
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Our Public Statues And Memorials.
true character as a'little bunble of drapery was discoverable . Of the baldness of the pedestal of this production , and of those of many other similar works , we shall have something to say further on . The statue of tho Duke of Kent , at the upper end of Portland-place , is still more defective than that of Pitt as regards the general treatment of the outline . In the
first place the nearly black statue is placed immediately in front of a mass of equally black London shrubbery , against which it is impossible that its outlines , such as they are , should define themselves with clearness of effect . In tho second , the forms of the figure if / self are so inter muddled with the inevitable cloaky drapery , and further complicated by a square mass of
semi-architectural accessories , that at a short distance the whole becomes an unmeaning and apparently shapeless lump of darkness . The pedestal of this characterless mass of bronze presents no decorative feature to relieve or support it ; indeed , it possesses no feature intended to do so , being merely a cubic mass of granite put together , by means of very careless masonry , as though its only object was that of serving as a rough sort of tablet for the inscription .
Chantrey ' s equestrian statue of George IV ., in Trafalgar-square , is somewhat better , in point of distinctness of outline , than either of the works just described , inasmuch as the artist has found it impossible to put any sort of cloak or toga upon tbe horse , the outline of which tells out , in consequence , with proper distinctness . The figure of the King is , however , betoga'd in what was the
usual fashion , the whole work being , in fact , a weak imitation of the well-known statue of Marcus Aurelius , which all Italian tourists have seen on the Campidoglio at Rome . The other statues of this arena are still less satisfactory . Trafalgar-square seems , in short , destined to become , as was lately observed by a contemporary , a sort of out door " Chamber of Horrors . " The statue
of Napier vulgarises , in a very painful manner , the well remembered aspect of one of the greatest of our modern heroes ,- and that of Haveloek , with its large heavy head , is scarcely less objectionable ; while the statue of Nelson , placed almost out of sight on the top of a column ( disfigured by a very ugly lightning conductor ) , justifies the simple remark of the old Chelsea pensioner , who exclaimed , when first taken to see it , "Why , they ' ve mastheaded the Admiral . "
The masonry ofthe uglier column , on the top of which stands the statue of the Duke of York , is still more coarse and unsightly than that of the Nelson column . In short , we do not seem to be aware of the kind of thing that a public iconic memorial ought to be . Opposite to this is the memorial to the Guards who fell in the Crimea , in which , though the figures of the Guards , below , are in
many respects very excellent , yet the whole fails as a public metropolitan monument , in consequence of the general poverty of the accessories . It has been improved lately , and doubtless the sculptor would willingly have done more . The pedestal is , on two sides , ornamented with bronze shields , bearing the names of Alma , Inkerman , and Sebastopol . These shields are enriched with l
exceedingy well-designed branches of oak ; but they are both precisely alike—both cast in the same mould . It is in this way that we have invariably failed in all our recent monuments of this class . Our artists or our committees do not appear to possess that feeling for rich monumental compositions which so remarkably distinguishes their brother sculptors and architects of the Continent this
. In monument one might imagine that the bronze figure on the top , and the finely modelled group of Guardsmen had been placed where they are in a temporary manner , on a few rude blocks of granite , just roughly prepared , in order to raise them to a proper height for exhibition , while a fitting architectural framework and supports , highly enriched with decorative scul ptures of a suitable character were being prepared for their more permanent location .
In a public memorial of the statue form it is not merely necessary to obtain the statue and place it on a lump of stone of sufficient height ; it is , above all things , important that the statue should be presented to the public in a dignified manner , with such appropriate surroundings and enrichments as are calculated to add sufficient richness and artistic importance to the work as a whole .
Costly and varied materials , abundance of appropriate ornament , and elaborate minuteness of detail , combined with an imposing grandeur of general outline and character , should accompany a statue or general monument intended to perpetuate the memory of those who have deserved well of their country . These should be well conceived andjartistieall ht emblemswithin delicatel
y wroug , y covered borderings and mouldings ; and in important monuments there should also be additional figures secondary to the principal ones , but wrought with equal care and beauty . Such are the legitimate resources of the designer of a grand public memorial . The simple figure of the prince , or hero , or civic worthy , is not capable of much artistic decoration ; and indeed , in
such subjects , simplicity of treatment is generally the most successful , in so far as the figure by itself is concerned . But then it is not a single figure , not a mere family portrait , that we are speaking of ; it is a public memorial—a monument which is intended to be an ornament to the metropolis as well as a honour to departed worth ; and , therefore , the simple portrait figure is not enough .
The simply utilitarian view is not applicable to public monuments . The artistic Greeks , who well understood the theory of decorative and monumental art , did not allow a purely iconic statue to be set up , except in very rare cases , that of Miltiades being one of the very few exceptions . They considered thai the positive features of any individual man could not possess that general ideal beauty which public monuments should possess , and which they sought , not only in the elegance of accessories ' , but iu the idealization of the chief figure itself . The
portrait of Alexander the Great , for instance , appears on his coins idealized as Hercules , his head picturesquely hooded with the skin of the Nemean lion . In the magnificent modern monument , St . Peter's , at Eome , the sepulchral images ofthe Popes of the fifteenth , sixteenth , and seventeenth centuries are but comparatively small features in the georgeous compositions of which they form the
nucleus ; and in most of the exquisite sepulchral monuments of the sixteenth century , especially those which enrich the churches of Italy , Prance , and Spain , the iconic statue of the deceased , though the central object of the composition , is yet but a very small portion of its varied adjuncts and details , or of its general magnificence . In our own days , monuments have arisen in Paris and
other continental cities which vie with those of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries in their display of that true understanding of decorative monumental art without which neither grandeur nor beauty can be made to adorn public works of that class . One might cite the Berlin monument to Frederick the Great , of which a charming model was lately to be seen in the International
Exhibition ; or the magnificent millenic memorial just erected in Bussia , composed of a whole crowd of statuary and countless details of extraordinary richness ; but modern Parisian monuments may serve our purpose better as an example of what such works ought to be . It is now several years since the monument to Moliere was erected in Paris , on the site of the house in ivhich he
was born , in the Eue de Richelieu . The figure of the great dramatic poet forms , of course , the central object of the composition ; but scarcely less important features are the "Tragedy" and "Comedy , " by Pradier ; and these , again , are framed , as it were , in rich surroundings of differently-tinted marbles , heightened in their effect by decorative sculpture and carved borderings , introduced with the most lavish profusion . The whole composition , including delicately-sculptured emblems and other ornamental features , is of large and imposing cha *