Tomb Monuments

Object Biography Categories

Objecthood, production, consumption and afterlife

Monument of Sir Peter Warren History

Roubilliac, 1757. Instructed to view in the same way as a painting in the London Magazine

Monument to John, the 2nd Duke of Argyll and Greenwich History

Roubilliac, 1749 in Westminster Abbey. Typically 2- 3 years to produce, classified as a military monument despite him dying comfortably. Was a politician so this is created to portray a narrative.

Process of Monument to John

Presentation drawing, then a contractual drawing, then terracotta model

Model for a monument to Henry petty, earl of shelburne

1751 Roubilliac : coat of arms, figures without heads, petty reclining at the top, he did not get this commission

Monument to Henry Petty

1754, Peter Scheemakers: a coat of arms, on an obelisk, above the sarcophagus, with figures of children that died before him

Monument to John Hough

1747 Roubilliac, in Worcester Cathedral, a provincial monument not in the public space. A resurrection monument as he looks up to heaven, lifting curtain to reveal himself. A medallion of a weeping baby.

Monument to John Montagu 2nd Duke of Montagu

Roubilliac 1754: Northamptonshire, aristocratic commission, white and blue-tinged marble. Commissioned by his widow, there were two models, the final ended up taller.

• charity and cherub by his foot = a life snuffed out

• grieving wife = an emphasis on women which was rare

Monument to Sir Peter Warren description

• a royal bust placed by Hercules, but in a christian church = represents fortitude

• Britannia below, his death is national mourning

• inscriptions

• still being discussed in 1883, so animated people though it was real

Monument to John the 2nd Duke of argyll and greenwich description

• obelisk with text being inscribed

• two sculptures of people life-size

• minerva: time fighting, confirmed by military dress

• eloquence: political career

• the word greenwich not completed, title dies with him

Engraving of Monument to General Wolfe

Joseph Wilton, 1772: national monument, 7 years war, a state commission.

• died at the battle of Quebec, hero

• somewhat propaganda

• an open competition to fund

• Wolfe semi-naked, radical

What do these monuments represent in artistic discourse?

A paradigmatic example of history painting

The Death of Wolfe

Benjamin West 1770-1: mass produced afterwards, factually inaccurate