'They are at Peace, God proved them and found them Worthy for Himself'
Sir Edgar Bertram MacKennal (Melbourne 1863 - 1931)
Category
Art / Sculpture
Date
Unknown
Materials
Bronze
Order this imageCollection
Cliveden Estate, Buckinghamshire
NT 766001
Summary
Bronze sculpture, Female Figure with Outstretched Arms 'They are at Peace, God proved them and found them Worthy for Himself', by Bertram MacKennal, RA (Melbourne 1863 - Devonport 1931). Figure of a woman, in bronze on a bronze base and stone pedestal inlaid with inscription. Figure stands, arms held out, lifesize, face slightly tilted up, her loose dress falling in sheet from arms.
Provenance
In 1902 , William Waldorf Astor formed an oval Italian Garden on the site of the Orkney's putative Roman Circus on the hillside below the mansion to exhibit his collection of Roman sculpture. It was adapted as a cemetery for those who died in the Canadian Hospital at Cliveden during World War I by the Second Lord Astor and it became an official Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery. The Astors' commissioned this impressive figure to stand over the graves in tribute to their sacrifice. Presented to the National Trust, with the house and grounds, by Waldorf, 2nd Viscount Astor (1879-1952) in 1942.
Marks and inscriptions
They are at peace, God proved them and found them worthy for himself
Makers and roles
Sir Edgar Bertram MacKennal (Melbourne 1863 - 1931), sculptor
References
Beattie 1983: Susan Beattie, The New Sculpture, New Haven and London 1983