Wellington Monument (also called Wellington Testimonial)
Robert Smirke (1781-1867)
1817-1861 (held up by problems with funding)
Kilgobbin granite
Phoenix Park
Dublin, Ireland
Photograph, caption, and commentary below 2009 by Jacqueline Banerjee.
Made of a particularly hard and crystalline form of Irish granite, and reaching 205' (see "Wellington Monument" in bibliography below), this is the tallest obelisk in Ireland and Europe, and the second tallest in the world after the Washington Monument, which is considerably taller, at over 555'. Since it was started during Wellington's lifetime, it is properly called a testimonial rather than a memorial. There are bronze bas-reliefs on three sides, depicting the battle of Waterloo (by Thomas Farrell), Civil and Religious Liberty (by John Hogan), and the Indian Wars (by Joseph Kirk). The inscription on the other side (facing the left here, with green patina) reads, first in Latin and then in English: "Asia and Europe, saved by thee, proclaim / Invincible in war thy deathless name, / Now round thy brow the civic oak we twine / That every earthly glory may be thine." Recently described as "formidable and rather dreary" (Casey 308), it is nevertheless a notable manifestation of the Egyptian Revival: James Stevens Curl comments on "the growing popularity of this Egyptian form as a commemorative object" (266). Later monuments influenced by this trend include one designed by Philip Hardwick for the young French explorer Joseph René Bellot in Greenwich, London, and William Goscombe John's Memorial to the Engine Room Heroes in Liverpool.
References
Casey, Christine. The Buildings of Ireland: Dublin. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005.
Curl, James Stevens. The Egyptian Revival: Ancient Egypt as the Inspiration for Design Motifs in the West. London: Routledge, 2005.
"Wellington Monument, Phoenix Park, Dublin" ("Archiseek: Ireland" site). Viewed 7 August 2009.
Last modified 7 August 2009