According to British Listed Buildings, Kelly, a firm of monument masons, created this monument in Paddington Cemetery for the Goetze family c. 1911. “Pink granite Celtic cross on two-stage base, with a pair of coped ledgers in front, set within a kerb of granite with cast bronze railings. . . . The railings are decorated with curving arabesque decoration with circles to the centre of each face. At the corners are square colonnettes bearing allegorical cowled figures depicting the Christian Virtues. ” The photograph at left shows the disposition of the bronze statues and their relation to the stonework on the memorial. Right: a figure holding Omega. [Click on the images to enlarge them.]
Although British Listed Buildings describes a[which] “High relief on centre of cross depicts a pair of angels with entwined wings, carrying aloft a naked figure representing the soul,” but as the detail on the left clearly shows the bronze depicts angels holding Christ with the loin covering commonly shown in pictorial representations of the Crucifixion; this male figure also has a halo.
The Christian Virtues
Left to right: Faith, Hope, and Charity. This bronze and stone memorial for James Goetze (d.1877) and his wife Rosina (d.1911) “was erected by their son, the painter and patron Sigismund Goetze (1866-1939). Goetze was an associate of Alfred Gilbert . . . and the allegorical figures are related to his similar figures executed in 1892-1900 for the memorial candlestick to Lord Arthur Russell at Chenies, Buckinghamshire. An outstanding example of outdoor funerary sculpture of its day, compellingly ascribed to Gilbert.” — British Listed Buildings Richard Dorment's monograph on Gilbert, in which Goetze appears several times, does not mention this monument.
Related Material
- Another view of Hope
- Another view of Faith
- Robed figures” by Gilbert: Faith, Hope, Charity
- Robed figure” by Gilbert: St. Catherine (The Miraculous Wedding)
- Robed figure” by Gilbert: Veiled Figure
Photographs and research by Robert Freidus. Formatting and text by George P. Landow [You may use these images without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the Victorian Web and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite it in a print one.]
Bibliography
Dorment, Richard. Alfred Gilbert. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1985.
“Goetze Grave in Paddington Cemetery.” British Listed Buildings. No. 488220. Web. August 2012.
Last modified 14 September 2012