Prometheus and Pandora
| Browse information by: Location Makers General Information Classification Object Parts Object Condition History References Photographs |  Author: Anthony McIntosh Copyright for Photograph: Creative Commons |
Location
| Street: | Church Street / A283 |
| Town: | Petworth |
| Parish: | Petworth |
| Council: | Chichester District Council |
| County: | West Sussex |
| Postcode: | GU28 |
| Location on Google Map | |
| Object setting: | Inside building |
| Access is: | Public |
| Location note: | Petworth House, The North Gallery, Square Bay |
| In the AZ book: | West Sussex |
| Page: | 61 |
| Grid reference: | N9 |
| The A-Z books used are A-Z East Sussex and A-Z West Sussex (Editions 1A 2005). Geographers' A-Z Map Company Ltd. Sevenoaks. | |
| Previous location: | Petworth House, The Audit Room (moved 1992) |
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Makers
| Name : | John Edward Carew |
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General Information
| Commissioned by: | George O’Brien Wyndham, 3rd Earl of Egremont (1751-1837) |
| Construction period: | 1835-7 (unfinished) |
| Work is: | Extant |
| Owner custodian: | The National Trust (Petworth House) |
| Description: | A naked Pandora sits on a draped block. Her raised right knee and right arm cover the genital area. Prometheus stands to her right, naked, the drapery covering the genital area. His right arm is raised aloft and in his hand is what appears to be an incomplete carved object. |
| Iconographical description: | In Greek mythology, Prometheus created the first man from clay, stole fire from the gods to give to mankind, was punished by Jupiter and released from his torment by Hercules. His sister-in-law was Pandora, the ‘all-gifted’, who was fashioned from clay by Vulcan. After Prometheus’s theft of fire, Jupiter’s retribution to mankind was the opening of Pandora’s Box thus releasing all the world’s evils. Only Hope remained inside. |
| Signatures: | Carved catalogue number on base '116' |
| Inscription: | Prometheus And Pandora |
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Classification
| Categories: | Free Standing, Sculptural |
| Object type1: | Sculpture |
| Object type2: | Statue |
| Subject type1: | Mythological |
| Subject subtype1: | Seated |
| Subject type2: | Figurative |
| Subject subtype1: | Group |
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Object Parts
| Part 1: | Oval pedestal |
| Material: | Portland stone |
| Height (cm): | 137 |
| Width (cm): | 100 |
| Depth (cm): | 160 |
| Part 2: | Statue |
| Material: | White marble |
| Height (cm): | 270 |
| Width (cm): | 140 |
| Depth (cm): | 125 |
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Object Condition
| Overall condition: | Good |
| Risk assessment: | No known risk |
| Condition 1 of type: | Structural |
| Condition 1: | Broken or missing parts |
| More details: | Pandora: broken fingers and thumb on right hand, 3rd. finger missing at knuckle. Prometheus: left foot shows a previous repair to big toe |
| Date of on-site inspection: | 27/06/2008 |
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History
| History: | The North Gallery is one of the very few top-lit sculpture and picture galleries to survive from the early nineteenth century. It was extensively restored in 1991-3. The South corridor is the earliest part of the gallery, which was built between 1754 and 1763 to house the major part of the 2nd. Earl’s collection of antiques statuary. The top-lit Central Corridor was added to the gallery by the 3rd. Earl in 1824-5. At the same time work began on the final extension to the gallery, the Square Bay and the whole was finished in October 1827. The works were supervised by Thomas Upton, the Petworth Clerk of Works, and executed by his building yard. Advice was sought from at least three artists; the painter Thomas Philips and the sculptors Sir Francis Chantrey and John Edward Carew. The galleries are presently painted a dark red, restored to this colour during the 1991-3 restorations. The galleries had been this colour in 1873. Red (with green, the most traditional colour for picture galleries) was felt by Ruskin to accentuate the contours of sculpture, and it was known to have been used in ancient Rome as a foil to sculpture. The present sculpture arrangement (devised in 1991-3) was designed to restore, as far as possible that conceived by the 3rd. Earl. It was taken from a unique ground plan of the 3rd. Earl’s statue deployment drawn up in 1835 by H.W. Philips. Apart from the Flaxman, the Square Bay has become a gallery of works by the Irish sculptor J.E. Carew, many of which were placed here in 1835.
Carew declared in 1837 that the Prometheus group ‘was begun about two years since’ and it remained unfinished after the 3rd. Earl’s death in 1837. Carew's insolvency led him to sue Lord Egremont's executors for the astonishing sum of £50,000, despite the lavish payments that he had received during Lord Egremont's lifetime. The published proceedings of the ensuing court case (1841-42), in which Westmacott and Chantrey appeared as expert witnesses, is an important document not only for Carew's relationship with his patron but for its rarity as a record of sculptural practice in early nineteenth-century England. Carew's claim was rejected, and his bankruptcy ten years later confirmed the 3rd Earl's prediction: 'you will come to the dogs'. ('Petwroth House'). |
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References
| Source 1 : | |
| Title: | 'Petworth House' |
| Type: | Book |
| Author: | Rowell, Christopher |
| Publisher: | The National Trust. |
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Photographs
Author: Anthony McIntosh Copyright: Creative Commons |  Author: Anthony McIntosh Copyright: Creative Commons |
 Author: Anthony McIntosh Copyright: Creative Commons |  Author: Anthony McIntosh Copyright: Creative Commons |
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