FDA-Sc.6-2017
Parts
Object number
FDA-Sc.6-2017
Object type
Identification
Title
Joseph Goodall
Title Type
assigned by cataloguer
Description
Full-length statue; seated male figure, resting a book on his lap
Comments
This sculpture was commissioned as a result of subscriptions paid mainly by Old Etonians. The project was led by Adelaide, the Queen Dowager.
Although begun by the eminent sculptor Sir Francis Chantrey (whose studio the sitter had visited), this statue is considered entirely the work of Henry Weekes, as Chantrey made so little progress on it before his death in 1841.
The work was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1845, to mixed reviews, and a model for the statue featured in the Main Avenue of the Crystal Palace during the Great Exhibition of 1851. It was intended for the Ante-Chapel of College Chapel, where was a feature for more than 120 years until 1973, when it was moved to its current location.
'The most prominent monument in the Churchyard is the white marble figure of Joseph Goodall D.D., Provost 1809 1840. The statue, by H. Weeks, stood till 1973 in the ante chapel when it was removed to the eastern corner of the Churchyard. By the inscription it is piously hoped that while Etonians ‘look with reverence at this frail likeness of his face, (they) may according to their ability model themselves on the undying image of his mind’.'
[Source: 'A Guide to Eton College' by R.C. Austen Leigh, revised by R.C. Martineau, T.P. Connor & Poppy Anderson (2008), p.5]
Although begun by the eminent sculptor Sir Francis Chantrey (whose studio the sitter had visited), this statue is considered entirely the work of Henry Weekes, as Chantrey made so little progress on it before his death in 1841.
The work was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1845, to mixed reviews, and a model for the statue featured in the Main Avenue of the Crystal Palace during the Great Exhibition of 1851. It was intended for the Ante-Chapel of College Chapel, where was a feature for more than 120 years until 1973, when it was moved to its current location.
'The most prominent monument in the Churchyard is the white marble figure of Joseph Goodall D.D., Provost 1809 1840. The statue, by H. Weeks, stood till 1973 in the ante chapel when it was removed to the eastern corner of the Churchyard. By the inscription it is piously hoped that while Etonians ‘look with reverence at this frail likeness of his face, (they) may according to their ability model themselves on the undying image of his mind’.'
[Source: 'A Guide to Eton College' by R.C. Austen Leigh, revised by R.C. Martineau, T.P. Connor & Poppy Anderson (2008), p.5]
Other number
FDA-A.446-2016
Description
Material
marble
Production
Person
Date
1841 - 1843
History and association
Object history note
Provenance: Commissioned for Eton College by subscription (paid mainly by Old Etonians and led by Adelaide, the Queen Dowager)
Exhibited: Royal Academy, London, 1845, catalogue number 1338
Exhibited: Royal Academy, London, 1845, catalogue number 1338
