Queen Victoria

Thomas Woolner (1825-1892)

Exhibited at the Royal Academy 1883 (see Woolner 343)

Marble

Council House, Victoria Square, Birmingham

This statue stands facing one of Prince Albert by John Henry Foley on the half-landing of the main stairs of Birmingham's grand municipal building or "Council House." The commission for the statue was given to Woolner after Foley died before he could produce the companion piece to Albert (see Read 75; the same thing happened with the statue of John Stuart Mill on the Embankment in London). To complement her spouse, Woolner shows the Queen of an age with Albert, or looking even younger, although by now she was well into her sixties. Carlo Marochetti's effigy of the queen in the mausoleum at Frogmore is similarly matched with Albert, as if time had stood still for her since his death.

Photographs, commentary and formatting by Jacqueline Banerjee, 2012.

[You may use these images without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the photographer and (2) link your document to this UR, or cite the Victorian Web in a print document. Click on this and the following photographs for larger images.]