Albert Memorial in London, England
Queen Victoria's Magnificent Shrine to Her Lost Love - Prince Albert
Feb 11, 2009
The Albert Memorial in London’s Kensington Gardens is a masterpiece of Gothic Revival architecture and Victorian style. It takes the form of a medieval shrine to Queen Victoria’s one great love. Walking around the square podium, look for the world's artistic geniuses from Shakespeare and Beethoven to Michelangelo and Dante. There are 169 of them ornately carved in the marble Frieze of Parnassus.
Prince Albert and The Great Exhibition
On the four diagonal corners, are representations of the continents Europe, Asia, Africa and America. These recall the four corners of the world which came together at the Great Exhibition of 1851 that was Prince Albert’s incredibly successful idea to showcase culture and industry.
Each continent on the memorial features a small group of statues around an animal. A figure is seated on each of the four animals. It is interesting to guess the symbolism. For example on the Asia corner, the central woman sits upon an elephant. This female statue unveils herself, representing the revelation of Asian art at the Great Exhibition. The other figures show a Persian poet, a Chinese potter, an Arab merchant and an Indian warrior.
On the corner pedestals of the podium are groups of statues representing the Industrial Arts. Behind and above these groups are others representing
- Geometry
- Astronomy
- Chemistry
- Geology.
In a second tier are
- Physiology
- Rhetoric
- Medicine
- Philosophy.
The gilded Prince Albert sits at the centre, surveying London from his throne.
The Motto of Prince Albert
The statue of Prince Albert is protected by an enormous canopy, supported by four granite columns. In this dome above Prince Albert’s head, is one of the largest and most beautiful areas of external mosaic-work in Europe. In the spirit of the Victorian age, but strange to see through modern eyes, gargoyles are leering out from the corners of the canopy. These would have been to ward off evil spirits.
At the corners, lions bear scrolls with Prince Albert’s motto, Treu und Fest (True and Faithful). Above them are the embossed panels decorated with polished jewels and glass inserts of the pedestal for the open tabernacle.
Victorian Style Virtues
Here stand the eight statues of the Virtues: Faith, Hope, Charity, Humility, Fortitude, Prudence, Temperance and Justice. Each statue is more than 8 feet tall and carries a symbol associated with the virtue.
Over the gabled niches protecting the statues, the spire continues with two levels of ornate angels before becoming a single column. All this is richly covered in enamel and jewels. The spire is topped with an orb and cross. The whole memorial reaches up 176 feet into the London sky.
Albert Memorial Inscription
Queen Victoria was devastated when her husband died at the age of 42. The Albert Memorial was a beacon of her love. It took 15 years to be finally completed in 1875 and was inscribed with these simple words:
“Queen Victoria and Her People
to the memory of Albert Prince Consort
as a tribute of their gratitude
for a life devoted to the public good”
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