The Palace and Park: Its Natural History, and Its Portrait Gallery, Together with a Description of the Pompeian CourtLatham, R. G. (Robert Gordon)
History
The Palace and Park: Its Natural History, and Its Portrait Gallery, Together with a Description of the Pompeian Court
Latham, R. G. (Robert Gordon)
Crystal Palace (Sydenham, London, England)
A selection from the best productions of various English sculptors
surrounds this portion of the Transept. At the angle is a colossal
statue of Peel by Marochetti, and between this and the Screen of Kings
and Queens in the nave is the statue of the great Earl of Chatham (449),
forming a portion of his monument in Westminster Abbey. It was executed
by J. Bacon, R.A., a contemporary sculptor, who was celebrated for the
truth and vigour of his portraits. Bacon should also be mentioned with
honour, as one of the first native artists who founded the English
school of sculpture in the last half of the 18th century. Amongst the
statues in the Transept itself, we would notice Macdonald’s excellent
compositions of Ulysses recognised by his Dog (48), and Andromeda (47);
the very gracefully designed figure of a Bather (36), by Lawlor; and a
group of Boys Contending for a Prize, with some other statues by the
same artist.
The statues on the north side of this end of the Transept are by Spence
and Theed; amongst them will be remarked the Highland Mary (58), and the
statue of Flora (59), both by Spence; Narcissus at the Fountain (60),
and Psyche (61), by Theed.
At the junction of the Transept and the Nave is placed the colossal
statue of Dr. Johnson, from his monument at St. Paul’s, the first that
was erected in that Cathedral. This portrait-statue, as well as that of
Chatham, is by Bacon; but composed, as will be remarked, on a
diametrically opposite principle; the great writer being half clad in a
classic toga, whilst the great statesman is brought more vividly to our
minds by being represented in the costume of his period and his order.
We now cross over to that junction of the Transept and Nave, which is
marked by a colossal statue of Lessing, the great German writer; a noble
and dignified portrait-statue by Rietschel of Dresden.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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