2-981-919 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Statue of the Prince Consort on the Albert Memorial, Hyde Park, 1876. 'The colossal bronze-gilt statue of the Prince Consort by the late Mr. Foley...is at length unveiled...The right hand grasps a book on which is incised, "Great Exhibition of the Industry of all Nations,"...We know that Mr. Foley repeatedly essayed the effect of his model before he would trust it to be cast, and that he made considerable alterations in...the disposition of the limbs to counteract the effects of foreshortening on a seated figure seen from below. Yet it was inevitable that the lower limbs and knees should come into undue prominence; but for this defect the sculptor...was not responsible...It was, the reader will remember, while working on the model of this statue in situ that Mr. Foley was seized with the illness which terminated in his death; but, happily, the work was left virtually complete'. From "Illustrated London News", 1876.