Wolsey statue
Enthroned and gesticulating on an Ipswich street only yards from
the place in which he grew up (now demolished and replaced by first The
Hippodrome Theatre and today by Ensor's Cardinal House), Cardinal
Thomas Wolsey is celebrated. Our second photograph shows him with Curson Lodge, the lodgings belonging to
Curson House, in the background which belonged to his contemporary,
Lord Curson. The sculpture can be found on St Peters Street, close to
the junction with Silent Street.
Public art is a curious beast. Is it a good idea to erect works
of art in public spaces to add interest, historical resonances, beauty
into our towns and cities? Undoubtedly, yes. However, if you ask some
with strong opinions, it is almost always: 'Yes, but not that one.'
Whatever you put up, someone will take exception to it, hate it, rage
against this waste of money, wish that it was something different, on
any other subject by any other artist, or worst of all that it wasn't
there at all. Such is the case with the nearby Prince Obolensky sculpture on Cromwell
Square (financed, it is said by oligarch billionaire Roman Abramovich,
so boo! Hisss!) and with the statue of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey in St
Peter's Street. Actually, it is rather good.
The relief capitals running around the plinth of this unusual,
seated low-lying figure read (from the narrow section at Wolsey's feet):
'THOMAS WOLSEY
BORN IN IPSWICH 1470 OR 1471 DIED LEICESTER 1530 CARDINAL ARCHBISHOP
CHANCELLOR AND TEACHER
WHO BELIEVED THAT PLEASURE SHOVLD
MINGLE WITH STVDY SO THAT THE CHILD MAY THINK LEARNING AN AMVSEMENT
RATHER THAN A TOIL'
2014 images
Each word is separated from the next by a point. Wolsey
is accompanied by a cat, its head just visible to the lower left of the
figure in the second of our photographs.
From the BBC Suffolk news site (29 June 2011):-
'A bronze statue of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey has been unveiled in Ipswich
town centre. David Annand was commissioned to make the £90,000
sculpture celebrating
one of Suffolk's most famous sons. "The reaction from the crowd was
very moving and I think it'll be fine
in this setting," he said. The artwork is at the junction of Silent
Street and St Peter's Street
near to the spot where Wolsey is believed to have lived. A crowd of
about 300 people were there for the ceremony, which featured
an actor dressed as Wolsey and Tudor musicians. Mr Annand said: "We
knew it was a wonderful setting because it has
Tudor houses around it that Wolsey would have known. "I think it would
have been vulgar if it had been any bigger. [It is
10% larger than life-size.]
"It had been nerve-wracking but the comments I heard were very
reassuring and I'm very happy with the end result." Dr John Blatchly,
project chairman of patrons, said: "The unveilers
gasped as we pulled the cloth off and it's a very approachable figure.
"It's so very much better than I first imagined it would be when we
first thought of the project 12 years ago. "At every step of the way
we've had an agreement on the detail and it's
got better and better." The Right Reverend Nigel Stock, Bishop of St
Edmundsbury & Ipswich,
who was also at the unveiling, said: "I saw a drawing of it, then a
model, but to see the actual statue exceeds expectations. "It's a
lovely bit of work and it's great that it's right here for the
people of Ipswich to see. "It's not just any old statue. It's
contemporary and it'll make you
stop and look." '
The Public Sculpture of Norfolk & Suffolk website (see Links) gives what might be called a mixed review: "The statue is set on
a wide stretch of pavement under lime trees (suggesting future
maintenance problems) not far from the Gateway of Wolsey’s College of
St Mary. The cardinal sits on a chair decorated with gothic arches and
stretches his right hand, inviting the spectator to share the book held
up in his left. His cardinal’s robes are spread out uncomfortably in
front of him, while his hat hangs over the back of the chair and a cat
peers round one of its legs.
The gesture and the inclusion of the book respond to the thinking
behind the commission as set out by Dr John Blatchly, a distinguished
former headmaster of Ipswich School, responsible for the public appeal:
“The statue aims to highlight Wolsey's reputation as a great educator,
who was 500 years ahead of his time; one of Wolsey's dreams was to
establish a Cardinal College in Ipswich but all that can be seen of his
legacy now is Wolsey's Gate and St Peter's Church.’ Dr Blatchly ended
by quoting the passage from Wolsey inscribed around two sides of the
base. The sculpture suffers from Annand’s indecision between faithful
representation of Wolsey’s features and robes and a more abstract
handling."
Related pages
Lettered castings
Wolsey's
College.
Wolsey Pageant 1930
Wolsey 450
Wolsey550
Christchurch Park &
Mansion (under The Wolsey Art
Gallery/Wolsey Garden)
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