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Dublin - Baile Átha Cliath
Co. Dublin - Contae Átha Cliath College Street, D2 |
Thomas MooreDublin 1779 - Bromham, Wiltshire 1852Irish writer, poet, and lyricist celebrated for his Irish Melodies; considered Ireland's national bard. (Wikipedia) |
Christopher Moore
1857 |
Statue of Thomas Moore with a paper and a pencil in his hands. The idea of the sculptor was to "represent the poet at the moment when he may be supposed to catching the inspiration of one of his matchless lyrics from hearing a strain of that ancient Irish music of whose exquisite beauty he had so passionate an admiration."
It was unveiled 14 October 1857 by the Lord Mayor of Dublin, the Earl of Charlemont.
Despite many words of praise for the quality of the sculpture shortly after its unveiling, it soon became the subject of considerable criticism, as in the Dublin Weekly Nation on 24 October 1857:
… It is not necessary to enter upon any minute criticism: it is not a question of an arm or a foot – a muscle in the statue or fold in the robe; the whole affair is a blunder – unworthy of tho men engaged in it – unworthy of the country – unworthy of him whom it is intended to commemorate.And in the Northern Standard on 31 October 1857:
The Moore Statue in DublinIn 1879 several newspapers wrote:
To speak truthfully and plainly, the statue is a very great discredit to all concerned in its erection. It does not possess one artistic excellence. The only thing good about the whole affair is the site, and the committee, have managed, with wonderful success, to disfigure a good site with an exceedingly bad work of art. In this, at least, they have attained perfection.
The pedestal is not suited to the statue, and the statue does not harmonise with the pedestal. There is an irreconcilable antagonism between them – an utter disproportion destructive of all harmony of design.
The figure of bronze, and is nine feet in height; the pedestal of granite, and is eighteen feet in height; and between them there is a painful incongruity, as if their respective artists had laboured to make the one as unfitted as possible for the other. To look at the tout ensemble the impresrion is one of disagreeable contrast. There is unity of design observable.
The Dublin Moore Statue waterloggedFifty years after its unveiling, the Northern Wedge wrote: "It was announced that Mr. Thomas Sexton would give £100 for a new Moore statue in Dublin, to replace the monstrosity with which the Irish metropolis is at present defaced."
Considerable disgust and indignation are manifested in Dublin over the discovery that the Moore statue there is made of zinc instead of bronze; but more especially because the rain has got in through a crack in the head, and the statue is half-full of water, a state of existence utterly abhorrent to an Irishman.
The fact that both the sculptor and the one pictured are called 'Moore', were both born in Dublin and were only 11 years apart is not mentioned anywhere. They are not brothers, but is there any relationship?
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