When was the Albert memorial built

�

A.� The main structure was completed in 1868, seven years after the death of Queen Victoria's beloved husband Albert. The edifice, in Kensington Gardens opposite the Royal Albert Hall, was opened to the public in 1872, but the statue of Albert was not installed until 1875.< xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

�

Q.� So it was, you might say, a monumental task

A.� How droll. Yes. Massive. The Albert Memorial - architect: George Gilbert Scott - is one of the great sculptural achievements of the Victorian era. For intricate opulence it is hard to match. The memorial has a large statue of Albert seated in a Gothic shrine, and includes a frieze with 169 carved figures, angels and virtues.

�

Separate groups represent the Continents, Industrial Arts and Sciences. The pillars supporting the canopy are of red granite from the Ross of Mull, and grey granite from Northern Ireland. The four granite pillars weigh 17 tons each and each took eight men about 20 weeks to finish and polish.

�

Q.� Why did the statue take so long

A.� Put bluntly, the sculptors kept dying. Victoria chose a favourite, Carlo Marochetti. He produced two designs for statues of Albert, but neither was considered quite right, and was working on a third when he died. He was succeeded by J H Foley, who completed a suitable statue, cast in many parts. Then he died before they could be assembled. Thomas Brock, his assistant, completed that task.

�

Q.� Was the memorial popular

A.� Yes - Albert was well-loved in Britain, even though he was considered a foreigner.� Professor Robert Kerr said of the memorial in 1891: 'The simple magnificence of its design, and the extraordinary splendour of its adornment, confer upon the Albert Memorial the very highest distinction amongst modern works of art.'

�

There were, of course, some critics. Athenaeum magazine said in 1873: 'The thing, as a memorial of the prince, is at once preposterous and false. The disgust of educated men has long given place to a feeling of cold contempt. The monument, as it is, represents, not unfairly, the hopes and aspirations excited by the Exhibition of 1851. Call the structure the Cross of Lost Hopes, or the Optimist's Memorial, and we shall in some degree comprehend the intentions of the sculptors...'

�

Q.� Ouch. But it's still going strong

A.� It was touch and go for a while. The memorial suffered badly from pollution and weather damage and was held up by scaffolding in the 1990s. While conservation measures were worked out, some even suggested it was too dangerous to stand and should be demolished.

�

Common sense prevailed, however, and the memorial was repaired and conserved - at a cost of �10 million.

�

Q.� What would Prince Albert have thought of it

A.� Eight years before his death in1861, it was suggested that his statue should be raised in Hyde Park as part of a memorial to the 1851 Exhibition. He didn't like the idea and wrote: 'I can say, with perfect absence of humbug, that I would much rather not be made the prominent feature of such a monument, as it would both disturb my quiet rides in Rotten Row to see my own face staring at me, and if (as is very likely) it became an artistic monstrosity, like most of our monuments, it would upset my equanimity to be permanently ridiculed and laughed at in effigy.'

�

To ask a question about History & Myths, click�here

Steve Cunningham

�