ANTIQUE MARBLE SCULPTURE.
A MONUMENTAL WHITE MARBLE FIGURE OF FLORA
BY RAFFAELLE MONTI (1818-1881)
Italian/English – 1855
Provenance: The Upper Terrace, Crystal Palace, Sydenham
The full-length, over life-sized carved marble figure of the goddess Flora, depicted standing and gazing downwards, semi-draped below the waist, with one corner of her robe held over her right arm, her upswept hair wreathed with convolvulus or “morning glory” flowers, and with a posy of similar flowers held in her left hand.
This figure formerly stood on the upper terrace of the Crystal Palace, Sydenham, one of the six colossal figures commissioned from Monti in 1855, after the Crystal Palace (designed by Joseph Paxton for the Great Exhibition of 1851), had been moved from its original setting in Hyde Park and re-erected on the site of a hill overlooking Sydenham in South London. The Palace itself was destroyed by fire in 1936, but this figure and its companions are known to have remained in situ until the 1950’s or 1960’s, when they were sold. This figure of Flora can be seen in the background of the film The Enchanted Garden, featuring the well-known actress, Hattie Jacques.
Raffaelle Monti was born in Milan in 1818, studied under his father, Gaetano Monti, and at the Imperial Academy, winning the Gold Medal for his group: “Alexander Taming Bucephalus”. After exhibiting the group: “Ajax Defending the Body of Patroclus” in 1838, Monti was invited to Vienna, acquiring several new patrons. He returned to Milan in 1842 and worked there for four years, before going to England in 1846. He went back to Italy the following year, becoming involved in the political upheavals of the time. He joined the National Guard as a chief officer and was sent on a mission to King Charles Albert, but the campaign of 1848 was disastrous, so the sculptor fled back to England where he was to remain for the rest of his life.
As well as the six colossal figures, of which this present “Flora” is one, Monti is known to have modelled a replica of the sculpture on the pediment of the Parthenon for the Crystal Palace, in 1854, and in 1856 completed two fountains for the North nave. In 1858 he made the relief for the proscenium arch of Covent Garden Opera House. He also became renowned for carving statues and busts of figures that appeared to be covered by a transparent veil, in the manner perfected by Antonio Corradini (d.1752). His works of this type include: “The Veiled Vestal”(1847) commissioned by the 6th Duke of Devonshire, at Chatsworth and “A Veiled Woman” (1850), now in the Wallace Collection. Amongst other notable works are: “Eve” (1850); “The Fisher Girls” (1851); “Truth Unveiling Herself” (1853); “Venus”, in Birmingham Art Gallery, and the equestrian statue of the Marquess of Londonderry in hussar uniform for Durham (1858). He modelled the “Perseus” silver vase for H.E. Surtees in 1869. Monti exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1854-1860, and showed “The Sleep of Sorrow and the Dream of Joy” and “The Reading Girl” at the International Exhibition of 1862, and is recorded as having made at least two monuments. He died in 1881.Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851 by Rupert Gunnis. Crystal Palace Museum Archives
Height: Approx. 7ft.-7ft. 6in. (213.50cm-229cm)
