DOI Heft:
No. 200 (November, 200)
DOI Artikel:Macklin, Alys Eyre: Alfred Gilbert at Bruges: by Alys Eyre Macklin
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.20968#0139
Alfred Gilbert
CANDELABRUM IN
MEMORY OF LORD
ARTHUR RUSSELL AT
CHENIES, BUCKS
BY ALFRED GILBERT
{Photo: Hollyer)
protected by a wonder-
ful open-work screen, in
which, suggested by the
traditional tree of Jesse,
are the figures of the
patron saints of the prince
and his house. As an
example of Gilbert's
thoroughness it may be
mentioned that he spent
two years over the St.
George, the armour being an invention that not only gives a resume of the
lines of the monument, but one capable of being used as a perfect working
model for a suit of armour. And every statue is as perfect, as unconven-
tional and full of delicate poetical imagination as that of the beautiful
Virgin whose feet are held in a circle of thorns that sprout up to fill the
hands with rosebuds and crown the head with full-blown flowers. Queen
Victoria's epergne is a fine expression of the tense nervous energy that
informs all Gilbert's work. The Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain at Picca-
dilly Circus lives in the sculptor's memory as a severe artistic disappoint-
ment. It was only when it was being set in place that it was realised that
the original design, one in which jets of water bursting in all directions from
the ornamental centre were to form a cascade that was to fall ceaselessly
into a deep stone basin, was not practicable owing to the quantity of water
that would be needed, and alterations followed that completely changed
the character of the fountain. To a series of statues in which Gilbert
strove to symbolise the progress of his life's work, and in which are in-
cluded the Perseus Armed and Icarus, belongs The Enchanted Chair. A
desire to break away from matter-of-fact expression in sculpture and
embody in it ideals and dreams, inspired it; but it failed to satisfy him,
and after keeping it in plaster for some time, he broke it up, with many
"ST. GEORGE AND THE DRAGON" (INCOMPLETE) BY ALFRED GILBERT
117
CANDELABRUM IN
MEMORY OF LORD
ARTHUR RUSSELL AT
CHENIES, BUCKS
BY ALFRED GILBERT
{Photo: Hollyer)
protected by a wonder-
ful open-work screen, in
which, suggested by the
traditional tree of Jesse,
are the figures of the
patron saints of the prince
and his house. As an
example of Gilbert's
thoroughness it may be
mentioned that he spent
two years over the St.
George, the armour being an invention that not only gives a resume of the
lines of the monument, but one capable of being used as a perfect working
model for a suit of armour. And every statue is as perfect, as unconven-
tional and full of delicate poetical imagination as that of the beautiful
Virgin whose feet are held in a circle of thorns that sprout up to fill the
hands with rosebuds and crown the head with full-blown flowers. Queen
Victoria's epergne is a fine expression of the tense nervous energy that
informs all Gilbert's work. The Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain at Picca-
dilly Circus lives in the sculptor's memory as a severe artistic disappoint-
ment. It was only when it was being set in place that it was realised that
the original design, one in which jets of water bursting in all directions from
the ornamental centre were to form a cascade that was to fall ceaselessly
into a deep stone basin, was not practicable owing to the quantity of water
that would be needed, and alterations followed that completely changed
the character of the fountain. To a series of statues in which Gilbert
strove to symbolise the progress of his life's work, and in which are in-
cluded the Perseus Armed and Icarus, belongs The Enchanted Chair. A
desire to break away from matter-of-fact expression in sculpture and
embody in it ideals and dreams, inspired it; but it failed to satisfy him,
and after keeping it in plaster for some time, he broke it up, with many
"ST. GEORGE AND THE DRAGON" (INCOMPLETE) BY ALFRED GILBERT
117