Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

STEVENS, ALFRED (1818-1875)

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V25, Page 905 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

STEVENS, See also:ALFRED (1818-1875) , See also:British sculptor, was See also:born at See also:Blandford in See also:Dorset on the 28th of See also:January 1818. He was the son of a See also:house painter, and in the See also:early See also:part of his career he painted pictures in his leisure See also:hours. In 1833, through the kindness of the See also:rector of his See also:parish, he was enabled to go to See also:Italy, where he spent nine years in study', at See also:Naples, See also:Rome, See also:Florence, See also:Milan and See also:Venice. He had never been at an See also:English school. In 1841 See also:Thorwaldsen employed him for a See also:year in Rome. After this he See also:left Italy for See also:England, and in 1845 he obtained a tutorial position in the School of See also:Design, See also:London. This See also:post he occupied until 1847. In 185o he became See also:chief artist to a See also:Sheffield See also:firm of workers in See also:bronze and See also:metal. In 1852 he returned to London. To this See also:period belongs his design for the vases on the railings in front of the British Museum, and also the lions on the See also:dwarf posts which were subsequently transferred to the inside of the museum. In 1856 occurred the competition for the See also:Wellington See also:monument, originally intended to be set up under one of the See also:great See also:arches of St See also:Paul's See also:Cathedral, though it was only consigned to that position in 1892. Stevens agreed to carry out the monument for £2o,000—a quite inadequate sum, as it afterwards turned out.

The greater part of his See also:

life as a sculptor Stevens devoted to this See also:grand monument, constantly harassed and finally worn out by the interference of See also:government, . want of See also:money and other difficulties. Stevens did not live to see the monument set up—perhaps fortunately for him, as it was for many years placed in a small See also:side See also:chapel, where the effect of the whole was utterly destroyed and its magnificent bronze See also:groups hidden from view. Stevens was aware of the position finally decided on for the See also:work, and he suppressed the equestrian See also:group intended for the See also:summit and left the See also:model for the latter feature in a rough See also:state. On the removal of the monument from the chapel to the intercolumnar space on the See also:north side of the See also:nave for which it was originally designed, the model of See also:horse and See also:man was placed in the hands of an able See also:young sculptor, trained mainly in another school, to be worked upon and See also:cast in bronze. The incongruity of the See also:idea did not strike those responsible for the proceeding. Its completion was still not carried into effect in 19x0, after years of work and polemics, and it was feared that it would have a disastrous result on the masterpiece as a whole. Indeed the See also:president of the Royal See also:Institute of British Architects declared that the structure would not See also:bear the See also:weight of the addition. The monument itself consists of a See also:sarcophagus supporting a recumbent bronze effigy of the See also:duke, over which is an arched See also:marble See also:canopy of See also:late See also:Renaissance See also:style on delicately enriched shafts. At each end of the upper part of the canopy is a large bronze group, one representing Truth tearing the See also:tongue out of the mouth of False-See also:hood, and the other Valour trampling Cowardice underfoot. The two virtues are represented by very stately See also:female figures modelled with wonderful beauty and vigour; the vices are two nude male figures treated in a very massive way. The vigorous strength of these groups recalls the style of See also:Michelangelo, but Stevens's work throughout is See also:original and has a very distinct See also:character of its own. Owing to the many years he spent on this one work Stevens did not produce much other See also:sculpture..

In See also:

Dorchester House, See also:Park See also:Lane, there is some of his work, especially a very See also:noble mantelpiece supported by nude female caryatids in a crouching attitude, modelled with great largeness of style. He also designed mosaics to fill the spandrels under the See also:dome of St Paul's. Stevens died in London on the 1st of May 1875. See SCUt.PTURE: British; See also:Sir See also:William See also:Armstrong, Alfred Stevens (London, 1881); 11. Stannus, Alfred Stevens (London, 1891).

End of Article: STEVENS, ALFRED (1818-1875)

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
STEVENS, A 		[next]
STEVENS, ALFRED (1828-1906)

Site © 2006 - Net Industries