3-028-398 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Statue of Mr. Gladstone in St. George's Hall, Liverpool, 1870. 'For this statue, which was modelled in Rome but finished in London, Mr. Gladstone gave the artist [John Adams-Acton] upwards of twenty sittings, including several on the occasion of Mr. Gladstone's last visit to the "Eternal City."...Mr. Gladstone, as all the world knows, is a native of Liverpool...The figure, which is 6 ft. 11 in. in height, including the pedestal, is cut from a block of Grestela marble, rather darkly veined, which the artist selected from the famous Carrara quarries. Mr. Gladstone is represented as wearing his official robes as Chancellor of the Exchequer, standing in a reflective attitude, with the right hand resting on his breast and the left grasping a scroll. The veins of the marble occur only in that part of the block which is used for the folds of drapery; and the head and hands are cut out of a material that is perfectly white and clear. The likeness in the face is very striking, especially when viewed in a three-quarter aspect, and has that expression of thoughtfulness and intellectual power which we know to belong to Mr. Gladstone'. From "Illustrated London News", 1870.