The Queen Victoria and Prince Albert Sculptures at Frogmore Mausoleum by Baron Carlo Marochetti (1805-1867). [Click on images to enlarge them.]
Begun soon after the Prince's death in 1861, carried out with the help of William Theed's death-mask of the Prince, and with the advice of his eldest daughter Victoria, and finally installed in the mausoleum in 1868 after the sculptor's own death in the previous year. Marble on an Aberdeen granite block. Windsor. Source: Whates 12.
Close-up of upper parts of the effigies.
Prince Albert is shown in his Garter Robes, under which can be glimpsed his military uniform. "The robes demonstrate the Prince's high rank, yet there is a softness, augmented” by the ermine mantle on which he is lying, and a sense that the viewer has come across someone asleep" (Marsden 441). The Queen commissioned her own likeness from Marochetti at the same time, as a companion piece (see "Prince Albert"). This of course was not installed until after her death, four decades after her husband's, in 1901. She too seems merely asleep; in a tender touch, the young couple's heads are slightly inclined towards each other.
Links to Related Material
- Prince Albert's Effigy alone on the sarcophagus before being reunited in death with his wife
- Frogmore Mausoleum
Image download, text, and formatting by Jacqueline Banerjee. You may use these images without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the source and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one. [Click on the images for larger pictures.]
Bibliography
Marsden, Jonathan, ed. Victoria & Albert: Art & Love. London: Royal Collection Publications, 2010.
"Prince Albert." The Royal Collection. Web. 6 May 2014.
Whates, Harry Richard. The Life and Times of Edward VII. Vol. IV. London: Cassell, 1910. Internet Archive. Uploaded” by the University of Toronto, Robarts Library. Web. 6 May 2014.
Last modified 7 May 2014