Admiral Vernon's monument in Westminster Abbey
Rysbrack, Michael (1694-1770)
- Yale Center for British Art
Paul Mellon Collection[Museum inv. no.: B1977.14.5719]
Item location
Description
A bust of Admiral Vernon is mounted on a column with long inscription suggested (actual text not legible); a winged figure, holding a long trumpet in her right hand, crowns the honoree with a laurel wreath; additional imagery around the pedestal includes an obelisk, items suggestive of military rank and power, and possibly a zither. CURATORICAL COMMENT FROM MUSEUM WEBSITE:Michael Rysbrack arrived in London from his native Antwerp in 1720. Almost immediately, he formed a fruitful partnership with the architect James Gibbs(see cat. 111) to sculpt Gibbs's designs for funerary monuments. Rysbrack's association with Gibb's garnered him numerous commissions. He soon began designing and executing garden sculptures, including a life-size marble figure of Palladio for Lord Burlington, portrait busts, and funerary monuments. This monument, completed by Rysbrack and installed in Westminster Abbey, commemorates Admiral Vernon, who served in the West Indies during the reign of George II. Elaborate funerary monuments were the preserve of the wealthy, often regardless of rank or accomplishments, and they earned the stern words of moralists of the age. Joseph Addison saw these monuments as a futile attempt to defy "that great day when we shall all of us be contemporaries, and make our Appearance together." The monument for Admiral Vernon takes advantage of Rysbrack's renowned skill and innovation with portrait busts. The winged figure of fame crowns an idealized bust of the admiral in classical dress by the sculptor. Drawing occupied an important p[lace in the working process of the sculptor as well as the painter and architect. Drawings were part of a creative process that also included modeling the work in clay before executing the design in marble. The careful draftsmanship displayed here perhaps indicates that his work was a presentation drawing for the commission. --Morna O'Neill, 2001-05
People as subjects
Vernon, Edward (1684-1757) (Non-musician/dancer)Iconclass
61B2(EDWARD VERNON)(+1)historical person (EDWARD VERNON) ( +1 historical person or scene; or with allegorical or symbolic or setting in allegorical or symbolic frame; or with allegorical or symbolic accessories)
48C520
symbolic representations, allegories and emblems ~ drawing
Instruments [MIMO Code] (notes)
End-blown trumpet [6556]Zither [3729]
RIdIM images
