3-021-380 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Statues of the kings in Westminster Hall: William IV., 1868. One of '...six statues of British Sovereigns placed by way of experiment on temporary pedestals in Westminster Hall, [in London] ordered by the Fine-Art Commissioners of Mr. Theed...the sculptor has acquitted himself creditably with respect to the likeness...But the costume and robes of the Order of the Garter...have relatively received more than their share of attention; their details are elaborated more highly in proportion to their interest than those of the faces and hands; consequently the latter scarcely maintain their due supremacy. It is dangerous for the sculptor to descend to minutiae of tailoring and millinery. To mimic, as here, seams and the surface pattern of gold lace embroidery, shows that tendency to overstep the function of plastic art which is one of the least estimable features of the modern Italian school, and should be discountenanced in a public work. We have already given the story of the Fine-Art Commissioners having ordered these statues too large for the niches designed by the architect to receive them in the Royal Gallery; in consequence of which Mr. E. M. Barry has proposed their being erected in Westminster Hall'. From "Illustrated London News", 1868.