Victoria Monument, Liverpool

This article is about the Victoria Memorial in Liverpool. For other monuments to Queen Victoria, see Victoria Monument (disambiguation).
Victoria Monument, Liverpool

The Queen Victoria Monument is a large neo-Baroque[1] or Beaux-Arts[2] monument built over the former site of Liverpool Castle[1] at Derby Square in Liverpool.

A large ensemble featuring 26 bronze figures by C. J. Allen (some in New Sculpture style),[3] it was designed by F. M. Simpson of the Liverpool School of Architecture, in collaboration[4] with the local architectural firm[5] of Willink and Thicknesse[1] and built of Portland stone. The foundation stone was laid on October 11, 1902, and the monument was unveiled on September 27, 1906. It is a Grade II Listed structure,[1] a preservation category for structures of special public interest.

Sharples and Pollard, in the Liverpool volume of the Pevsner Architectural Guides, describe the work as Allen's greatest, and as one of the most ambitious monuments to Queen Victoria.[6]

There are four groups of figures around the pedestal, representing agriculture, commerce, industry and education.[6] Among the figures representing education is a statue modeled on Sir Oliver Lodge.[3] A large (4.42 metres (14.5 ft)) statue of Queen Victoria is at the center, centered in four groups of columns which support a baldacchino-like[6] open dome (which Terry Cavanagh called the monument's "least successful feature").[7] Atop the column groups are four allegorical figures representing justice, wisdom, charity, and peace.[6] Atop the dome itself is a large figure representing fame.[6]

In 2002, as part of the Liverpool Biennial festival, Japanese artist Tatsurou Bashi created a hotel room around the statue of the Queen entitled Villa Victoria, in which paying guests could spend a night.[8]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Victoria Monument, Liverpool.
The monument standing amidst the desolation of the Liverpool Blitz

See also

List of public art in Liverpool

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Monument to Queen Victoria". Liverpool World Heritage. City of Liverpool. Retrieved February 4, 2013.
  2. ↑ Crouch, Christopher (2002). Design Culture in Liverpool, 1880–1914: The Origins of the Liverpool School of Architecture. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. p. 131. ISBN 9780853238942. Retrieved February 4, 2013.
  3. 1 2 Jacqueline Banerjee and George P. Landow. "Queen Victoria Monument". The Victorian Web. Retrieved February 5, 2013.
  4. ↑ Richmond, Peter (2001). Marketing Modernisms: The Architecture and Influence of Charles Reilly. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. p. 25. ISBN 9780853237662. Retrieved February 4, 2013.
  5. ↑ "Basic Biographical Details – Willink & Thicknesse". Dictionary of Scottish Architects. Retrieved February 5, 2013.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Sharples, Joseph; Pollard, Richard (2004). Liverpool. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 149. ISBN 978-0300102581. Retrieved February 4, 2013.
  7. ↑ Cavanagh, Terry (1996). Public Sculpture of Liverpool. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. p. 43. ISBN 978-0853237112.
  8. ↑ Villa Victoria Liverpool Biennial website

Coordinates: 53°24′18″N 2°59′25″W / 53.40501°N 2.99025°W / 53.40501; -2.99025

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