Frieze of Parnassus, Stone sculpture at Albert Memorial, Kensington Gardens, United Kingdom
The Frieze of Parnassus is a carved stone relief encircling the base of the Albert Memorial, featuring 169 life-size figures representing major artists from across history. The roughly 64-meter work displays figures from painting, sculpture, architecture, music, and poetry arranged around the monument's perimeter.
The frieze was carved between 1864 and 1872 as part of Queen Victoria's memorial to Prince Albert. Two sculptors, Henry Hugh Armstead and John Birnie Philip, collaborated on the extensive carving work.
The frieze is arranged by artistic discipline, with musicians and poets on the south side, painters to the east, architects north, and sculptors west. This layout reflects Victorian ideas about how different art forms should be valued and remembered.
You can view the frieze while walking around and through Kensington Gardens, where the memorial stands as a central feature. Morning light works best for seeing the carved details clearly, as it illuminates the intricate features of the figures.
Among the 169 figures, only one woman appears - the Egyptian queen Nitocris, one of the few female artists recognized in this Victorian work. Michelangelo was carved twice, representing him as both a painter and a sculptor.
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