Gladstone Memorial, London | |
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Artist | Hamo Thornycroft |
Completion date | 1905 |
Type | Statue |
Medium | Bronze |
Subject | William Ewart Gladstone |
Dimensions | 3.4 m (11 ft) |
Location | |
51°30′47″N 0°06′52″W / 51.513°N 0.1145°W | |
Listed Building – Grade II | |
Official name | Statue of W E Gladstone on island in road, Strand, WC2 |
Designated | 24 February 1958 |
Reference no. | 1237098 |
The Gladstone Memorial on the Strand, London is a bronze sculpture of the British statesman, created by Hamo Thornycroft between 1899-1905. The statue was erected as the national memorial to Gladstone and shows him in the robes of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The figure stands on a plinth surrounded by allegorical figures depicting four of the Virtues, Courage, Brotherhood, Education and Aspiration. The memorial is a Grade II listed structure.
William Ewart Gladstone (1809-1898) served four terms as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom between 1868 and 1894. [1] One of outstanding political figures of Victorian England, he sought to reform the electoral franchise through the Representation of the People Act 1884 and the introduction of secret ballots; [2] pursued free trade [3] and attempted to "pacify Ireland" through Home Rule. [4] Although personally opposed to imperial expansion, his terms of office saw major foreign engagements including the death of General Gordon at Khartoum, [5] the Mahdist War and the outbreak of the First Boer War. [6]
Following Gladstone’s death in 1898, a committee was established to raise funds for a national memorial. [7] The commission was given to Hamo Thornycroft. [8] Born into a family of sculptors, by the 1880s Thornycroft had established his own reputation as a distinguished artist. [9] He had already received commissions for commemorative sculptures around Westminster, including statues of Oliver Cromwell, outside the House of Commons, [10] and General Gordon in Trafalgar Square. [a] [12] The commission took Thornycroft six years and the statue was not finally unveiled until 1906. [13] The unveiling ceremony was conducted by John Morley, a member of Gladstone's Cabinets and his biographer. [14] The cost was £8,000. [14]
The critic Edmund Gosse wrote to congratulate Thornycroft after the memorial's completion; "It is so dignified, so solid and the head so magnificent,; you have got that look of frenzy in the eye that all his best portraits have". [b] [14] Simon Bradley, in the 2003 revised version London 6: Westminster of the Pevsner Buildings of England series, describes the statue as a "fine, robed figure". [13] The sculpture is a Grade II listed structure. [15]
The statue is executed in bronze [16] and is 3.35 metres (11.0 ft) high. [13] It stands on a plinth of Portland stone by John Lee. [13] Gladstone is depicted in the robes of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. [c] An inscription on the front of the plinth reads "GLADSTONE 1809-1898". [7] Allegorical statues of women, mostly with children, [18] surround the base, representing four of the Virtues, Courage, Brotherhood, Education and Aspiration. [13]
The memorial stands at the east end of the Strand, in front of the Church of St Clement Danes. It was originally encircled by the roadway, but is now in a pedestrianised plaza. The plaza also has late-20th century sculptures of Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding, and Marshall of the Royal Air Force Arthur Harris, [13] St Clement's being the Royal Air Force church. [19]