Robert wells royal albert hall

This is clear from certain devices like the caduceus, which is the staff of Hermes, the ancient Greek god of trade, wealth, luck and travel. Symbols of progress and prosperity The Royal Albert Hall emerged out of the success of the Great Exhibition, a world fair celebrating industry and culture that took place at the Crystal Palace, Hyde Park. Some of the loyal subjects of her majesty Queen Victoria are recognised on the building.

One shield features a laurel branch and two filled cornucopias. There are 63 shields around the hall. When understood in their historical context, the shields are illustrated allusions to the social, cultural and political landscape of the time they were made. In some eyes they are terracotta sculptures, technological triumphs, and architectural ornamentation.

The repetition is at least in part a sign of reverence towards the monarchy, but it is also an expression of the specific role played by the Queen as an early patron of the hall. The trident is the sceptre of Poseidon or Neptune, respectively the Greek and Roman gods of the sea. Consequently, on the façade a shield featuring a lyre celebrates the arts. While walking around the outside of the Royal Albert Hall, it can be tricky to take in all the striking details on the building.

Another shield bears a trident framed by two dolphins.

They relate and reproduce the discursive cultural landscape of the period. The devices and their meaning would have been well known to contemporary onlookers. All have an identical border but display 27 different charges; most are repeated, whereas others appear only once. Together and individually, the shields are an expression of the ideas and values of nineteenth-century elite society.

This shield shows a half-sun blazing above a jug. It shows the letters VR below a shamrock, rose and thistle. But in other ways they can be seen as a kind of coded language. The nations of England, Scotland and Ireland are represented by their emblems. The shields include heraldic symbols, royal monograms, national emblems and crests of individuals connected to the hall.

This shield depicts a lyre, a musical instrument made of strings attached between a round frame and crossbar, closely resembling a harp. In the age of industrialisation and imperial expansion, it showcased national progress and modern technological development.

Working behind the scenes at The Royal Albert Hall

Laurel, the name given to a bay-tree, symbolises triumph or fame in heraldic tradition. Knowledge that readers of this blog post will soon share! Victoria personally decided that the hall would be named after her husband, and laid the foundation stone at a grand ceremony on 20 May The twelve men in the Provisional Committee for the hall each have their personal crests featured. When initially imagined, the Royal Albert Hall was meant to be a great central hall for the promotion of art and science, to bring together savants of the era.

Another shield depicts a blazing half-sun above a Grecian-shaped jug, perhaps implying the good fortune surrounding material production. In heraldic tradition the lyre symbolises lyric poetry, rather than music. This shield shows a laurel branch between two cornucopias filled with fruit and foliage. The economic prosperity and ingenuity of the time is represented across the shields.

To learn more about the history of the building of the Royal Albert Hall from its conception to construction, visit the project webpage.

Project Spotlight: Royal Albert Hall - Sir Robert McAlpine

The members all were commissioners for the Great Exhibition. One aspect of the terracotta decoration is a series of shields set at eye level around the ground floor. A cursory glance at the shields will do little justice to each distinct design, their deliberate symbolism and their specific historical context. Classical culture at the service of modern meanings When initially imagined, the Royal Albert Hall was meant to be a great central hall for the promotion of art and science, to bring together savants of the era.

The Royal Albert Hall emerged out of the success of the Great Exhibition, a world fair celebrating industry and culture that took place at the Crystal Palace, Hyde Park. One shield, celebrating Queen Victoria — , occurs 8 times on the facade, more than any other.

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One shield displays Pegasus, a winged horse in Greek mythology that symbolises freedom, liberty and strength. It appears three times. Wales, however, is notably absent although this is not surprising for the 19th century, when Wales was not an independent state. The cornucopia is the horn of plenty, and originates from ancient Roman culture. Even though the iconography of the shields was undoubtedly influenced by contemporary events, there are also classical and antiquarian references.