ABOUT THE STATUE:
"Baron Carlo Marochetti, pre-1854. Bronze equestrian statue of Prince Albert; set on grey granite base and pink granite pedestal; cast bronze attached corner columns and acanthus band course; side bronze relief panels and wreathed 'A' to rear panel; egg and dart cornice."
--Historic Scotland (
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"The statue by Marochetti was erected October 1866. In its report on the inauguration, the Glasgow Herald describes the statue as the following; “With regard to this work of art it seems to be generally admitted that an excellent likeness has been secured. His Royal Highness is represented in a military uniform, bestriding a charger, which reins with his left hand, while his right, holding a plumed hat, falls in easy posture by his side. The figure of the horse is designed similarly to that on which the Queen’s statue is mounted, the chief difference being that in the new work the animal is thrown into a curveting attitude, with ears turned backwards and neck finely arched.”
The report omits to mention that the legs of the Queen’s horse were modified in order to match those of the new work. The pedestal is also identical to that of the Queen Victoria monument, with grey and red granite in the plinths, bronze acanthus frieze in the base moulding. There are four reliefs on the pedestal. The front and rear panels carry inscriptions. The right (south) panel depicts figures illustrative of the industrial arts’, the two central figures represent Education and Industry and shown reclining on a locomotive, the outer figures are personifications of Agriculture and Commerce. The left, (north), panel has a composition of figures, (symbolic), of the fine Arts, Music, Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. Inside the pedestal is a bottle containing ‘copies of local newspapers, minutes of the Memorial Committee, and other documents."
--Source (
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ABOUT THE MAN:
"Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Francis Albert Augustus Charles Emmanuel; later The Prince Consort; 26 August 1819 – 14 December 1861) was the husband of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
He was born in the Saxon duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld to a family connected to many of Europe's ruling monarchs. At the age of 20 he married his first cousin, Queen Victoria, with whom he would ultimately have nine children. At first, Albert felt constrained by his position as consort, which did not confer any power or duties upon him. Over time he adopted many public causes, such as educational reform and a worldwide abolition of slavery, and took on the responsibilities of running the Queen's household, estates and office. He was heavily involved with the organisation of the Great Exhibition of 1851. Albert aided in the development of Britain's constitutional monarchy by persuading his wife to show less partisanship in her dealings with Parliament—although he actively disagreed with the interventionist foreign policy pursued during Lord Palmerston's tenure as Foreign Secretary.
He died at the early age of 42, plunging the Queen into a deep mourning that lasted for the rest of her life. Upon Queen Victoria's death in 1901, their eldest son, Edward VII, succeeded as the first British monarch of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, named after the ducal house to which Albert belonged."
--Wikipedia (
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