Overall: 21 1/2 x 10 1/4 x 10 1/4 inches (54.6 x 26 x 26 cm)
Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1977.14.12
Gallery Label:
Alfred Gilbert was the leading British exponent of the “new sculpture” movement, a more naturalistic approach to sculpture influenced by artists from France. St. George was one of twelve small figures that Gilbert modeled to adorn the elaborate grill for the tomb of Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale, grandson of Queen Victoria, who died of influenza in 1892 at age twenty-eight. Despite winning so prestigious a commission, Gilbert enraged the royal family by failing to complete the work on time, reproducing photographs of the tomb in progress, and selling bronze casts of the figures on the open market. Nevertheless, the tomb and the related figures were Gilbert’s masterpieces with the graceful figure of St. George among his most beautiful inventions and a herald of the art nouveau. Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2016
