Carlo Marochetti

Baron Pietro Carlo Giovanni Battista Marochetti RA (14 January 1805 – 29 December 1867) was an Italian-born French sculptor who worked in France, Italy and Britain. He completed many public sculptures, often in a neo-classical style, plus reliefs, memorials and large equestrian monuments in bronze and marble. In 1848, Marochetti settled in England, where he received commissions from Queen Victoria. Marochetti received great recognition during his lifetime, being made a baron in Italy and was awarded the Legion of Honour by the French government.

Carlo Marochetti
Marochetti by Antoine Claudet
Born
Pietro Carlo Giovanni Battista Marochetti

(1805-01-14)14 January 1805
Turin, Italy
Died29 December 1867(1867-12-29) (aged 62)
Passy, France
NationalityItalian / French
EducationÉcole des Beaux-Arts, Paris
Known forSculpture, Public monuments

Biography

Early life

Carlo Marochetti was born in Turin, where his father, Vincenzo, a former priest, was a local government official and professor of eloquence at Turin University, but after the family moved to Paris, Carlo was brought up as a French citizen.[1] He studied at the Lycée Napoléon and then studied sculpture at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris where his teachers were François Joseph Bosio and Antoine-Jean Gros.[2][3][4] At the Paris Salon in 1827 he exhibited a marble statue of A Young Girl playing with a Dog which won a silver medal.[5] Between 1822 and 1830 Marochetti frequently spent long periods in Rome where his mother was resident and where he collaborated with François-Joseph Duret and Antoine Étex and worked briefly at the studio of the Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen.[1][2]

Career in France

From 1832 to 1848 Marochetti lived in Paris and largely adopted a neo-classical Romantic style of sculpture. He married Camille de Maussion in 1835 and together they had two sons and a daughter.[1] In Paris, Marochetti received two significant commissions. One was for a relief panel of the Battle of Jemappes on the Arc de Triomphe and the other for a large marble statue group, the Elevation of Mary Magdalene for the altar of the Church of La Madeleine.[6] He delayed completing the altar group to create a monumental equestrian statue of Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy which he donated to the city of Turin.[6][4] The king of Sardinia, Charles Albert rewarded Marochetti for his gift by making him a baron.[6][4] Before being sent to Italy the Philibert statue was displayed in the courtyard of the Louvre Palace during 1838. This effectively established Marochetti's reputation for creating equestrian monuments and led to him being commissioned to create such a statue of Ferdinand, Duke of Orleans, which stood in the courtyard of the Louvre for four years.[6] In 1839 the French government awarded him the Legion of Honour.[5] During 1840 Marochetti was competing to win both the commission for a monument to the Duke of Wellington for the city of Glasgow and for the commission to design the tomb of Napoleon for Les Invalides in Paris.[1] Although he won the Glasgow commission, Marochetti's proposal for the tomb attracted widespread public criticism in France and was rejected.[1]

When his father died, Marochetti inherited the family château at Vaux-sur-Seine outside of Paris and served as mayor of the town there from 1846.[6] After the fall of the July Monarchy in 1848, and his subsequent failure to win a seat in the National Assembly, Marochetti followed the French king Louis-Philippe into exile in the United Kingdom.[2][1]

Career in London

Marochetti spent the greater part of his time from 1848 until his death, in London.[7] He lived on Onslow Square, and maintained a large studio and his own foundry in the adjacent Sydney Mews.[2][8] In his studio, Marochetti created an equestrian statue, in plaster, of Richard Coeur de Lion which was displayed at the Great Exhibition during 1851.[6] A public campaign led to a bronze copy being made which was eventually, in 1860, erected in front of the Palace of Westminster on the orders of Prince Albert.[6]

Memorial to Viscounts William and Frederick Melbourne, St Paul's Cathedral

From his studio and foundry Marochetti, and his workforce, produced numerous statues, memorials and equestrian monuments plus smaller pieces. He also experimented with the use of new materials and the creation of multi-coloured, or polychromic, sculptures.[4] Between 1853 and 1855 Marochetti created three life-size statues, plus busts and garden ornaments, for the Kingston Lacy country mansion in Dorset.[9] His equestrian statues included those of Viscount Combermere in Chester and Sir Mark Cubbon in Bangalore and for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in Glasgow.[1] Works featuring mourning angels by Marochetti include the monument in St. Paul's Cathedral to Viscounts William and Frederick Melbourne, the Crimean War memorial at the Haydarpaşa Cemetery in Istanbul, dating from 1856 to 1858, and his Angel of the Resurrection for the Cawnpore memorial in India from 1862 to 1865.[1][10][4] From 1864 Marochetti collaborated with Sir Edwin Landseer on the four bronze lions to be placed at the base of Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square, and cast them at his Sydney Mews foundry.[8] He experimented in using coloured marble following the work of John Gibson and a coloured statuette of Queen Victoria was exhibited at a London studio but is now lost.[1]

Not all of Marochetti's designs were so successful. His proposed design for the tomb of the Duke of Wellington was rejected.[1] Marochetti's equestrian monument to George Washington for the 1853 World Fair in New York was destroyed by fire.[11] In the 1860s he championed a scheme for a set of statues celebrating British engineers to be erected in the churchyard of St Margaret's, Westminster. The scheme was rejected but three of the statues, of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Robert Stephenson and Joseph Locke were erected separately elsewhere.[1] His monumental statue of Robert Peel in Parliament Square was melted down and the metal used for the smaller model of Peel by Matthew Noble which replaced it.[1][12]

Busts of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert

With the support of the exiled Louis-Philippe of France, Marochetti first met Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in 1849 and subsequently received a number of royal commissions.[1][4] Marochetti's first royal commission in England was for a marble portrait bust of Prince Albert in 1849, which was commercially reproduced in Parian ware by the Mintons company in 1862.[4] That year Queen Victoria commissioned Marochetti to produce a portrait bust of herself as a birthday gift for Prince Albert and that too was reproduced by Mintons for the retail market.[4] Rather than a crown, he depicted her wearing a headpiece of various flowers, including roses and shamrocks, to represent the nations of the United Kingdom.[4]

Marochetti designed Victoria's memorial to Princess Elizabeth and a bust of Prince Albert at Newport Minster on the Isle of Wight.[13] He also created the marble recumbent effigies for the tomb of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in the Royal Mausoleum at Frogmore in Windsor Great Park.[4] He was commissioned to make the seated figure of Albert for the Albert Memorial in Kensington Gardens.[14] However the first version was rejected by the architect of the monument, Sir George Gilbert Scott, and Marochetti died before a satisfactory second version could be completed.[14][15] He was elected an associate of the Royal Academy 1861 and a full academician in 1866.[2]

Marochetti died, suddenly, at Passy in Paris and was buried at the Vaux-sur-Seine cemetery.[6]

Selected public works

1830-1839

ImageTitle / subjectLocation and
coordinates
DateTypeMaterialDimensionsDesignationWikidataNotes

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Tommaso gravePère-Lachaise cemetery, ParisSculpture on pillarStoneQ112342353

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Battle of JemappesEast facade of the Arc de Triomphe, Paris1834Relief panelStone18m x 3.5m[1]

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Grave of Vincenzo BelliniPère-Lachaise cemetery, ParisAfter 1835Obelisk with portrait medallionStoneQ112308945Architect: Guillaume-Abel Blouet[6][16]

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Marochetti tombPère-Lachaise cemetery, Paris1838Pillar with reliefsStoneQ112332551

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Statue of Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of SavoyPiazza San Carlo, Turin1838Equestrian statue on pedestal with relief panelsBronze and stoneQ3663864[1][17]

1840-1849

ImageTitle / subjectLocation and
coordinates
DateTypeMaterialDimensionsDesignationWikidataNotes

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Théophile Corret de la Tour d'AuvergneCarhaix-Plouguer, Brittany, Francec. 1840Statue on pedestal with relief panelsBronze and stoneQ108628354[6][18]

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Mary Magdalen Exalted by AngelsLa Madeleine, Parisc.1842Sculpture group and altarMarble[1][19]

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Claude Louis BertholletJardins de I'Europe, Annecy, France1843Statue on pedestalBronze and stoneQ56716583[20]

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Statue of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of WellingtonRoyal Exchange Square, Glasgow1844Equestrian statue on pedestal with relief panelsBronze and graniteCategory AQ7981506[21]

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Ferdinand Philippe, Duke of OrléansEu, Seine-Maritime, France1845Equestrian statue on pedestal with relief panelsBronze & stoneQ20799860[22]

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Ferdinand Philippe, Duke of OrléansNeuilly-sur-Seine, France1845Equestrian statue on pedestal with relief panelsBronze & stoneQ96600378Monument was originally erected in Algiers, relocated 1980[23]

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Pierre Paul Royer-CollardVitry-Le-Francois, Marne, France1846Statue on pedestalBronze & stone[24]

1850-1859

ImageTitle / subjectLocation and
coordinates
DateTypeMaterialDimensionsDesignationWikidataNotes
Memorial to Granville Gower LochSt Paul's Cathedral, London1853Relief plaqueMarble[25]
Tomb of the Contesse de LariboisiereChapel of Lariboisière Hospital, Paris1853Statues and sculpture group on pedestalMarble[26]
George WashingtonExhibition of the Industry of All Nations, New York City1853Equestrian statueBronzeOriginal was destroyed by fire, but a small version was erected at Vaux-sur-Seine and later moved to Chateau de Cheverny[27]

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Queen VictoriaGeorge Square, Glasgow1854Equestrian statue on pedestal with relief panelsBronze and graniteCategory AQ17567473First equestrian statue of a woman in Britain.[28][29]

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Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of WellingtonWoodhouse Moor, Leeds1854, erected 1858Statue on pedestalBronze and graniteGrade IIQ26656015[14][30]
Sir John BankesKingston Lacy, Dorset1853-55BustBronzeOne of two busts, plus a life-size statue, of Bankes which Marochetti created for Kingston Lacey[9]
King Charles IKingston Lacy, Dorset1853-55Statue on standBronze[9]
Mary Bankes 1598-1661Kingston Lacy, Dorset1853-55Statue on standBronze[9]

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Memorial to Viscounts William and Frederick MelbourneSt. Paul's Cathedral, LondonAfter 1853False door flanked by two statuesWhite & black marble and gilded bronze[10]

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James OswaldGeorge Square, Glasgow1855Statue on pedestalBronze and graniteCategory BQ17792900[31]

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Statue of Richard Coeur de LionPalace of Westminster, London1856Equestrian statue on pedestalBronze and graniteGrade IIQ7324819[14][32][12]

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Memorial to John Cust, 1st Earl BrownlowChurch of St Peter and St Paul, Belton, South Kesteven1856Effigy on chest tombMarbleGrade I[33][34]
The Scutari Obelisk, Crimean War memorialHaydarpaşa Cemetery, Istanbul1856-58Obelisk with supporting statues on pedestalStone[1][10][35]

1860 and later

ImageTitle / subjectLocation and
coordinates
DateTypeMaterialDimensionsDesignationWikidataNotes

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Clive of IndiaThe Square, Shrewsburyc. 1860Statue on pedestalBronze and graniteGrade IIQ26546539[14][36]

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9th Queens Royal Lancers memorialExeter Cathedral1860Relief panelsMarble and bronzeGrade IQ83187729[37][38]

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Cavalry Division Crimean War memorialSt Paul's Cathedral, London1860-65Tripartite curved relief plaqueMarble[39]

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Major General Sir Arthur Wellesley TorrensSt Paul's Cathedral, London1860-65Relief plaqueMarble[40]

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Coldstream Guards Battle of Inkerman memorialSt Paul's Cathedral, London1860-1865Deep relief plaqueStone[41]

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Charles Albert of SardiniaPiazza Carlo Alberto, Turin1861Equestrian statue on pedestal with statues at baseBronze and stoneQ21141719[42]

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Angel of the Resurrection, Siege of Cawnpore memorialCawnpore, India1862-65Statue with cross on pedestal with surrounding wallsStoneArchitect, Henry Yule.[1][10][43][4][44]

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Sidney Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of LeaVictoria Park, Salisbury1863Statue on pedestalBronze and stoneGrade IIQ26536005[14][45][46]

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Gioachino RossiniConservatorio Statale di Musica "Gioachino Rossini", Pesaro, Italy1864Seated statue on pedestalBronze & stoneQ121093784Plaster model in the Victoria and Albert Museum[47][27]

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Anthony PanizziBritish Library, London1864BustCarrara marble71cm x 50cm[48][49]

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George Cornewall LewisSt Peter's Square, Herefordc. 1864Statue on pedestalBronze and graniteGrade IIQ47472418[14][50]
Queen Victoria and Albert, Prince ConsortRoyal Mausoleum, Frogmore1864-68Two recumbent tomb effigiesMarbleGrade IMarochetti also created the four bronze figures of angels kneeling at each corner of the tomb[4][51][52]

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Statue of Viscount CombermereGrosvenor Road, Chester1865Equestrian statue on pedestalBronze and granite7.1m tallGrade II*Q15978984[14][53]
Albert, Prince ConsortUnion Terrace, Aberdeen1865Statue on pedestalBronze and graniteCategory BQ17770085[54]

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William Makepeace ThackerayPoets' Corner, Westminster Abbey, London1865BustMarble[55]

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Albert, Prince ConsortGeorge Square, Glasgow1866Equestrian statue on pedestalBronze and graniteCategory AQ17567468[56]
Statue of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of WellingtonThe Wellington Monument, Stratfield Saye House, Hampshire1866Statue on columnBronzeGrade IIQ26384539[14][57][58]
Statue of Mark CubbonCubbon Park, Bangalore1866Equestrian statue on pedestalBronze and stoneQ97183425[59][43]
Joseph LockeLocke Park, Barnsley1866Statue on pedestal with balustradeBronze, granite and Portland stoneGrade IIQ26443938[14][60]

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Colin Campbell, 1st Baron ClydeWaterloo Place, London1867Statue on piller with statues at baseBronze and red graniteGrade IIQ27083599[12][61]

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Statue of Robert StephensonEuston station, LondonErected 1870Statue on pedestalBronze and granite2.7m tallGrade IIQ27084501[14][12][62]

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Statue of Isambard Kingdom BrunelVictoria Embankment, Londonc.1877Statue on pedestal with surrounding screenBronze and Portland stone2.5m tallGrade IIQ20829598Pedestal by Richard Norman Shaw.[12][63]

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Jonas WebbHigh Street, Babraham, CambridgeshireLate 19th centuryStatue on pedestalBronze and stoneGrade IIQ26616046[64]

Other works

References