Shelley Memorial, Marble sculpture in University College Oxford, United Kingdom.
The Shelley Memorial is a life-size marble sculpture depicting poet Percy Bysshe Shelley reclining on a pale-green marble slab. The white Carrara marble figure rests on two winged lions, with a mourning Muse holding a broken lyre positioned on the maroon marble base below.
Shelley's widow, Jane Shelley, commissioned sculptor Edward Onslow Ford in 1890 to create this memorial. The completed work was formally unveiled at University College Oxford in 1893 to honor the Romantic poet's legacy.
The inscriptions on the bronze plaques come from Shelley's own elegy to John Keats, linking the sculpture directly to his written work. This choice connects the visual art with the poet's words and creates a personal dimension to the memorial.
The memorial is housed inside a glass-domed building designed to protect the marble sculpture from weather and damage. A decorative railing surrounds the artwork, keeping visitors at a safe viewing distance.
The completed marble figure weighs around thirteen tons and rests on two winged lions that serve as symbolic supports. This uncommon arrangement gives the memorial a dream-like, almost mythological appearance.
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