SEnine Greek Goddess
SE9’s most celebrated sculpture, Galatea, in Avery Hill’s Winter Gardens, has been given a facelift.
The
19th century white marble representation of the
scantily clad Greek goddess, with long flowing hair lying back against the tail of a dolphin, surrounded by birds and sea turtles, sits centre stage in the newly refurbished East Wing of the Gardens, being lovingly restored by the University of Greenwich.
The Wing is the first part of the Winter Gardens’ restoration to be completed
Galatea is an ancient Greek name meaning "she who is milk-white" and in Greek mythology was given to a statue carved by the King Pygmalion. The King, apparently fell in love with his own statue, which the goddess Aphrodite brought to life for him. In Ansiglioni’s work,
Galatea is represented as a Sicilian sea nymph; the theme was popular from the Renaissance but Ansiglioni, from Piedmont, treated the theme with a new vigour creating a sculpture with entwining curves and finely worked details to produce a ravishing image of late 19th century beauty and taste.
and is now fully open. The Main Hall is closed temporarily while high level repairs to the glass and roofing structures are carried out, which require extensive scaffolding. The West Wing’s beds are next up for re-construction and completion is expected early next year.
Galatea is being surrounded by temperate plants from Chile, an echo of the vision of Avery Hill Mansion creator Col North, who made his fortune shipping in nitrates from South America. Plants include:
Empetrum Rubrum: A dwarf shrub with red berries
Drimys Winteri: A brow barked shrub with scented leaves and white jasmine flowers Adiantum Chilense: A maidenhair fern from the region.
Take an interest in local events
Galatea sits in the middle of the fishpond having had a few decades of dust and accumulated grime removed from her surface.
The restoration is the latest chapter in a lively history of the sculpture which started in California and with the media tycoon William Randolph Hearst, who first commissioned her in the 1880s from Italian sculptor Leopoldo Ansiglioni.
For many years, it is thought to have languished underground for safe- keeping against the attentions of German bombers.
Hearst had commissioned the work for his castle grounds in California, but the sculptor persuaded him to be allowed to produce a copy.
Avery Hill’s Galatea was bought by Lord Waterlow in 1880 for his Highgate home and presented by his widow to the gardens named after him in Highgate. A copper plaque commemorating this donation has been given to Avery Hill by a local collector.
After its subterranean storage, Galatea was brought out by the London County Council, which assumed responsibility for the restoration of Avery Hill, which had itself been badly damaged during the War.
A third Galatea is also in existence, having emerged at Christie’s auction house in 1991. It was bought by Chi Mei Museum in Taiwan for £88,000.
Pictures by Dawn O'Connor 39
NEWS
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