Commissioned by Queen Victoria, in loving memory of her husband, Albert, who died of typhoid in 1861, the Albert Memorial sits at the southern end of Kensington Gardens, the golden statue of Albert overlooking Royal Albert Hall.An ornate canopy shelters the golden, seated statue of Albert. It reaches 176 feet, and took over 10 years to complete, the design for the memorial created by Sir George Scott. (No relation to Antipodes...)
Surrounding the statue, is the Frieze of Parnassus, depicting 169 individual poets, composers, architects, painters and sculptors...
It is believed, according to research conducted during the restoration of the memorial in the 1990's , that the statue of Albert had been painted black deliberately so as not to become a target for bombing raids during the war; it now stands in all its original glory, the statue in glittering gold leaf. Truly amazing, even under a grey sky...
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