ST GEORGE
Sr Alfred Gilbert (British, 1854-1934)
Height 18" (46.5cm)
Bronze, dark brown patination
The figure of Saint George was created by Gilbert as one of the twelve divinities gracing the niches of the grill that encompass the tomb-chest of the Duke of Clarence in the Chapel of Windsor Castle. Son of Prince Albert Edward of Wales, Prince Albert Victor (created Duke of Clarence in 1890) died of influenza on January 14th 1892. The funeral took place on January 20th and three days later the Prince of Wales summoned Gilbert to Sandringham to discuss plans for a memorial to his son. The work that Gilbert produced over the years that followed is recognised as one of the greatest Royal commissions of the 19th Century.
After consultation with the royal family the saints were chosen and the figure of Saint George was created in 1895. So impressed were the royal family that they commissioned an identical model of the figure to be produced in white metal and ivory as a private household memorial for Sandringham Church, delivered to Sandringham on 10th November 1895.
The present figure of Saint George is one of seven known bronze casts. There are currently three in private collections, another was exhibited at the Fine Art Society Exhibition of 1992 (on extended loan from the Minneapolis Institute of Arts), a fifth is in the Paul Mellon Center for British Art and a sixth is in the permanent Collection of the Ashmolian Museum in Oxford.
Literature
Richard Dorment, Alfred Gilbert – Sculptor and Goldsmith, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1986, The Tomb of the Duke of Clarence, illustrated, p. 155-160, Saint George, illustrated, p. 161-164
Nicholas Penny, Catalogue of European Sculpture in the Ashmolean Museum, Vol. III, British, 1992, Saint George, illustrated, p. 85, Processional Cross, illustrated p. 87
Isabel McAllister, Alfred Gilbert, A & C Black Ltd., London 1929, The Duke of Clarence Memorial, illustrated p. ii, Saint George illustrated, p. 129 (working model), p. 162
Susan Beattie, The New Sculpture, Yale University Press, London 1985, The Duke of Clarence Memorial, illustrated, p. 165
The Fine Art Society, Gibson to Gilbert - British Sculpture 1840-1914, Exhibition 2 June-2 July 1992, London, Saint George, illustrated, p. 29