Arthur Sullivan Memorial
The Memorial to Arthur Sullivan by William Goscombe John stands in Victoria Embankment Gardens in the centre of London. It was designated a Grade II listed structure in 1958.
| Arthur Sullivan Memorial | |
|---|---|
 | |
| |
| Artist | William Goscombe John |
| Completion date | 1903 |
| Type | Sculpture |
| Medium | bronze and granite |
| Subject | Arthur Sullivan |
| Location | London |
| 51.5093°N 0.1203°W | |
Listed Building – Grade II | |
| Official name | Sir Arthur Sullivan Memorial |
| Designated | 24 February 1958 |
| Reference no. | 1238072 |
History
Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (13 May 1842 – 22 November 1900) was an English composer best known for his enduring operatic collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert. Prior to his death in 1900, Sullivan had expressed a wish to be buried with other members of his family in Brompton Cemetery in West London. At the command of Queen Victoria, he was instead interred in St. Paul's Cathedral.[1] In 1903, a memorial to him was raised in Victoria Embankment Gardens, close to the site of the Savoy Theatre where many of his and Gilbert's comic operas premiered.[2]
Your beauty in such disarray?
Is it decent, is it just,
—rhyme inspired by "the most erotic statue in London"[3]
The sculptor was Sir William Goscombe John RA.[4] John modelled the head and shoulders bust in bronze,[lower-alpha 1] subsequently adding the figure of a disconsolate women which he had sculpted in Paris in 1890–1899.[3] Sources variously describe the figure as representing "Grief"[6] or the Greek muse of music, Euterpe.[3]
The statue has been described as "the most erotic in London" and inspired a rhyme on that theme (see box).[3][7][8]
Description
The bust of Sullivan is in bronze and stands on a pedestal of granite.[6] A bronze figure of a woman weeping, her upper body nude and her lower body covered in drapery, leans against the plinth. Pevsner describes the Art Deco style as "in the Père Lachaise manner”.[4] The plinth also carries lines from Gilbert and Sullivan's 1888 opera The Yeomen of the Guard: "Is life a boon? / If so, it must befall / That Death, whene'er he call, / Must call too soon."[3] The lines are repeated in the bronze sculpture at the base, which depicts an open book of music, one of the masks of Comedy and Tragedy, and a mandolin. The pedestal is fronted by a semi-circular stone bearing Sullivan's name and dates of birth and death.[9] The memorial is a Grade II listed structure.[6]
Footnotes
- John presented a copy of the bronze to the Royal Academy of Music.[5]
References
- "Funeral of Sir Arthur Sullivan", The Times, 28 November 1900, p. 12
- "Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan". www.npg.org.uk. National Portrait Gallery. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
- Darke 1991, p. 49.
- Bradley & Pevsner 2003, p. 379.
- "Sculpture: Portrait bust of Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan by Sir William Goscombe John. Bronze, c.1903". www.ram.ac.uk. Royal Academy of Music. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
- Historic England. "Sir Arthur Sullivan Memorial (Grade II) (1238072)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
- "Sir Arthur Sullivan". London Remembers. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
- "London's Raciest Statues". Londonist. 29 December 2016. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
- "Great London Sculptures: Memorial to Sir Arthur Sullivan by Sir William Goscombe John in Victoria Embankment Gardens". London Visitors. 13 January 2019. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
Sources
- Bradley, Simon; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2003). London 6: Westminster. The Buildings Of England. New Haven, US and London: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-09595-1.
- Darke, Jo (1991). The Monument Guide to England and Wales: A National Portrait in Bronze and Stone. London: MacDonald and Co. ISBN 978-0-356-17609-3.
External links
- The Victorian Web – Sir William Goscombe John
- A Walking Tour of Sir Arthur Sullivan's London
