| Queen Alexandra Memorial | |
|---|---|
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 | |
| Artist | SirAlfred Gilbert |
| Year | 1926–1932 |
| Dimensions | 575 cm × 540 cm × 180 cm (226 in × 210 in × 71 in) |
| Location | LondonSW1 |
| Coordinates | 51°30′17″N0°08′12″W / 51.5047°N 0.13677°W /51.5047; -0.13677 |
Listed Building – Grade I | |
| Official name | Queen Alexandra Memorial |
| Designated | 5 February 1970 |
| Reference no. | 1239703[1] |
TheQueen Alexandra Memorial on Marlborough Road,London, which commemoratesQueen Alexandra, was executed by the sculptor SirAlfred Gilbert between 1926 and 1932. It consists of a bronze screen incorporating allegorical figures, set into the garden wall ofMarlborough House and facingSt James's Palace. A late example of a work in theArt Nouveau style, it was regarded by the sculptor as his "Swan song".[2]
Before 1926 Gilbert was living in exile abroad, having fled Britain in 1901 bankrupt and disgraced after failing to complete the tomb of theDuke of Clarence inSt George's Chapel,Windsor Castle. Gilbert later claimed that the Duke's mother, Princess Alexandra (Queen Alexandra after her husband's accession to the throne asEdward VII), was the only member of the royal family who supported him after this debacle. She is also supposed to have expressed a wish in her old age that Gilbert might execute her memorial, should he outlive her.[3]
In 1926 Gilbert was invited to return to Britain, a result of the machinations of his biographer, the journalist Isabel McAllister. She had the twofold aim of getting Gilbert to complete the Clarence tomb (which he had succeeded in doing by 1928) and to receive the commission for a memorial to Queen Alexandra, who had died the previous year. The artistLady Helena Gleichen offered her studio inSt James's Palace for Gilbert's use.[4] The Committee to Erect a Memorial to Queen Alexandra was set up in late 1926 and approached Gilbert in December of that year.[2]
The symbolism of the central sculptural group is explained by Gilbert in an "exegesis" he prepared for the committee in 1927:
Central Group—represents "Love Enthroned", supported by Faith and Hope, on either side, and Love is directing a Boy sent out across the "River of Life", which springs from beneath Her Throne—symbolizing Queen Alexandra's charity to Children, also the water typifies Her advent to Great Britain from across the water.[5]
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The composition is in a style adapted fromPerpendicular Gothic architecture,[6] with three buttressed and pinnacled canopies over the figures andlinenfold motifs on the screen.[5] Two further allegorical statuettes appear on finials on the throne, that on the left representingReligion and the other without an attribute to help with identification,[3] thoughTruth has been proposed as its subject.[5]
The two main inscriptions readQUEEN ALEXANDRA/1844 A TRIBUTE TO THE EMPIRE'S LOVE 1925 (on the bronze base) andFAITH, HOPE, LOVE./THE GUIDING VIRTUES OF QUEEN ALEXANDRA (on the granite base below). A further inscription at the side of the bronze base readsA. B. BURTON. FOUNDER.[3]
The memorial was cast byA. B. Burton at theThames Ditton Foundry.[7] It was unveiled on 8 June 1932 (Alexandra Rose Day) byGeorge V. At the unveiling ceremony the memorial was blessed by theArchbishop of Canterbury,Cosmo Gordon Lang, and the choir of theChapel Royal gave the first performance ofQueen Alexandra's Memorial Ode, which had been composed for the occasion by theMaster of the King's Music, SirEdward Elgar, with lyrics by thePoet Laureate,John Masefield. On the following day Gilbert received his knighthood from the King atBuckingham Palace.[8] The memorial was Gilbert's last completed public artwork, as he died in November 1934.[2]
Media related toQueen Alexandra Memorial, Marlborough Road, London at Wikimedia Commons
