The Theosophical Path Illustrated Monthly Volume 1, July-December, 1911
Religion
The Theosophical Path Illustrated Monthly Volume 1, July-December, 1911
Theosophy -- Periodicals
[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. ANOTHER PANEL FROM
THE ALBERT MEMORIAL]
[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. PORTION OF
DECORATIVE FRIEZE FROM THE ALBERT MEMORIAL]
[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. CONTINUATION OF
DECORATIVE FRIEZE FROM THE ALBERT MEMORIAL]
GREAT NAMES IN ART. SCULPTURES FROM THE ALBERT MEMORIAL: by an Art
Student
The first illustration represents a group of architects of modern, or
comparatively modern times; the majority are British. This, and the
four other groups which follow, are from the high-relief or frieze on
the pedestal of the Albert Memorial in Hyde Park, London, and were
executed by J. B. Philip, about forty years ago.
Although the immense sum of $600,000 was lavished upon the monument to
Prince Albert, the estimable consort of Queen Victoria, the memorial
has never been regarded as a satisfactory work of art. The general
design has some original and interesting features, but the structure is
overloaded with gilding and mosaic, and the execution is mechanically
rather than aesthetically distinguished. The statue of the Prince
himself is inadequate, and the large groups of figures representing the
Four Quarters of the World, Industry, etc., though they may have passed
muster in the mid-Victorian period of the '60s and '70s, are not up to
the artistic standard of today. London has been singularly unfortunate
in the quality of its public monuments, and it is to be feared that the
new Memorial to Queen Victoria which has just been unveiled, will not
raise the average.
There are one hundred and nine figures on the pedestal, a large portion
of which are shown in our illustrations. They include painters, poets,
architects, sculptors, and some heroes and reformers. They are of far
greater interest from the historical associations they arouse than from
their artistic quality.
The seated figure in the center of the first illustration is the famous
Sir Christopher Wren, (1632-1723) the builder of St. Paul's Cathedral,
London, and pre-eminently the most distinguished British architect
who has flourished since the Gothic period. He was one of the most
original geniuses of the Renascence. Wren had an extraordinary field
for his talents opened to him by the immense destruction caused by the
Great Fire of London in 1666, and he was certainly the right man in the
right place. Not only did he rebuild St. Paul's Cathedral but fifty
other London churches. Up to date, St. Paul's is the largest and finest
Protestant Cathedral in the world. Though open to criticism in some of
its minor details and constructive arrangements, it is allowed to stand
foremost among buildings of its class in Europe, St. Peter's possibly
excepted.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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