Prince Albert's Effigy at Frogmore Mausoleum," by Baron Carlo Marochetti (1805-1867), installed there in 1868 and depicted by the artist/illustrator Robert Taylor Pritchett (1828-1907). W. H. Davenport Adams gives an idea of the lavish decoration of the mausoleum, against which background the sarcophagus makes its own dramatic statement:
Internally, Professor Grüner's decorations, in the Cinque-Cento style, are marked by their costliness and abundance. Not a foot of space has been left vacant; the eye is almost wearied by the embarras de richesses. The walls glow with coloured marbles, contrasting with the pure white marble shafts of the columns, and harmonising with their gilded capitals, bases, and mouldings. There are also arabesques, pictures, mosaics, gilded angels, frescoes of the Evangelists, statues of the Prophets, decorated work in gilt bronze; all fused together, however, with a splendid unity and true artistic feeling. The sarcophagus, which rests upon a base of black marble, was hewn out of the largest block of Aberdeen granite ever quarried. The recumbent effigy of the Prince Consort, in white marble, which ornaments the lid, was executed by the late Baron Marochetti. [57]
Queen Victoria's effigy, prepared at the same time as her husband's, would be installed beside his in 1901.
Links to Related Material
- The Queen Victoria and Prince Albert Sculptures together at the Mausoleum
- Frogmore Mausoleum
- The recumbent effigy of Prince Albert in St George's Chapel, Windsor, by Baron Henri de Triqueti
Image scan and text by Jacqueline Banerjee. You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the person who scanned it and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]
Bibliography
Davenport Adams, W. H. Windsor Castle and the Water-Way Thitherward ("Our Native Land. — New Series"). Line illustrations by R. T. Pritchett. London: Marcus Ward, 1880. Internet Archive, from a copy of a book in the Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University. Web. 16 November 2023.
Created 16 November 2023