National Victoria Memorial
" 'Looking Towards the Heart of the Great City Whose People She Knew and Loved so Well': The Statue of Queen Victoria on the Queen Victoria Memorial Now Unveiled": unveiling by King George V on May 16, 1911. " 'Looking Towards the Heart of the Great City Whose People She Knew and Loved so Well': The Statue of Queen Victoria on the Queen Victoria Memorial Now Unveiled": unveiling by King George V on May 16, 1911. [Illustrated London News, May 20, 1911, p. 719]
"Inauguration du Monument de la reine Victoria, le 16 Mai": unveiling by King George V on May 16, 1911."Inauguration du Monument de la reine Victoria, le 16 Mai": unveiling by King George V on May 16, 1911. [L’Illustration, 27 May 27, 1911, p. 122]
"Unveiling of the Queen Victoria Memorial, London" (postcard): unveiling by King George V on May 16, 1911."Unveiling of the Queen Victoria Memorial, London" (postcard): unveiling by King George V on May 16, 1911. [Yale Center for British Art, New Haven]
"At the Moment of Unveiling by the King: The Statue of Queen Victoria on the Queen Victoria Memorial Disclosed to the View": unveiling by King George V on May 16, 1911."At the Moment of Unveiling by the King: The Statue of Queen Victoria on the Queen Victoria Memorial Disclosed to the View": unveiling by King George V on May 16, 1911. [Illustrated London News, May 20, 1911, p. 726.]
"Queen Victoria Memorial, Unveiled by H.M. King George V, May 16th, 1911" (postcard)."Queen Victoria Memorial, Unveiled by H.M. King George V, May 16th, 1911" (postcard). [Yale Center for British Art, New Haven]
National Victoria Memorial
1911
Sculptor: Thomas Brock (1847–1922); Architect: Aston Webb (1849–1930)
Commissioned to commemorate Queen Victoria
Marble, with marble architecture and fountain, gilt-bronze figure of Victory, and bronze figures and reliefs
London, England
The unveiling of Britain’s national Victoria Memorial in London was a long-anticipated moment. The memorial was first proposed two weeks after the queen’s death in 1901, and its development over the next decade was continually discussed in the press. It was finally inaugurated on May 16, 1911, by George V in what the New York Times described as a “brilliant ceremony.” Seating was installed for four thousand invited guests, while the public gathered in the thousands in St. James’s Park, along the Mall, and near Buckingham Gate. The unveiling itself was accomplished with a modern electric button pressed by the king, whereupon the statue was revealed.
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