Statues - Hither & Thither

 

Description

The park was given to the people of Halifax in 1857 by local carpet manufacturer Sir Francis Crossley and was designed by Joseph Paxton. It was officially opened on 14 August 1857, however, the decorative works - among them the eight marble statues from Carrara - were not finished. A year later, on 12 August 1857, the statues of Hercules, Venus, Diana, Telemarchus and the Neapolitan Music girl were already placed, those of Sophocles and the dancing girl were placed on 12 August 1858. The statue of Apollo had an accident during the transport from Italy and a new copy had to be made. This new statue was finally placed in February 1859.

music girl Neapolitan music girl	sophocles Sophocles - Σοφοκλῆς, Sophoklēs), Greek tragedian (Wikipedia).	telemachus Telemachus - Τηλέμαχος, Son of Odysseus and Penelope, and a central character in Homer's Odyssey (Wikipedia). Cf. Telemaco (1835) by Luigi Bienaimé in the Hermitage, St. Petersburg	diana Diane Chasseresse (Ἄρτεμις) in Greek, or Diana, in Roman mythology, is the goddess of the hunt and moon and birthing, being associated with wild animals and woodland, and having the power to talk to and control animals (Wikipedia: Artemis and Diana). Cf. Telemaco (1835) by Luigi Bienaimé in the Hermitage, St. Petersburg
Apollo Belvedere (missing).	venus (Venus of Arles) Venus, Goddess of love, beauty, desire, sex, fertility and prosperity (Wikipedia).	hercules (Ἡρακλῆς), Latin: Hercules, divine hero in Greek mythology, son of Zeus and Alcmene (Wikipedia).	dancing girl after Antonio Canova (1757-1822). Cf. La Baccante danzatrice by Luigi Bienaimé in the Hermitage, St. Petersburg

NB in the 19th century newspapers and at the Historic England website the sculptor is given as Francesco Bienaimé, but since he died in 1824, the actual artist has to be his son Luigi.

Sculptor

• Luigi Bienaimé (Carrara 1795 - Roma 1878, son of Francesco Bienaimé (Rance, Flanders 1749 - Carrara 1824). They had a workshop specialised in making marble copies of classical statues (Dizionario Biografica – Wikipedia – Mapping of Sculpture).

Sources & Information

• Wikipedia, People's Park, Halifax.
• Historic England, People's Park, Halifax.
• Bradford Observer - Thursday 9 July 1857 (British Newspaper Archive); Thursday 12 August 1858 (British Newspaper Archive); Thursday 19 August 1858 (British Newspaper Archive) and Thursday 17 February 1859 (British Newspaper Archive). Illustrated London News - Saturday 22 August 1857 (British Newspaper Archive).
• Leeds Intelligencer - Saturday 14 August 1858 (British Newspaper Archive).

Tags

Locatie (N 53°43'12" - W 1°52'24") (Satellite view: Google Maps)

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