Photos

Following the conception and design in 1901, construction of the substructure began in 1904. The visiting Prince of Wales laid a foundation stone in 1906, but it was a further four years before work on the superstructure got under way. On January 4, 1912, the Prince - now King George V - returned to inspect progress. In the preceding month in Delhi the royal visitor had been crowned Emperor, and in his speech on that occasion, he had announced the transfer of the capital to Delhi. Curzon had not foreseen this move and he much lamented it; it left his sanctum of the Empire high and dry in a provincial city even before it was completed. The work continued, but it was not until December 28, 1921 that another Prince of Wales came formally to open it. On the same tour, the Prince visited Hyderabad, where he saw Esch's buildings all but finished; and he inspected progress on the buildings in New Delhi, which already promised to surpass the Memorial in grandeur. Curzon's project had been overtaken by events. If the Memorial's impact was diminished by delay, it was still a splendid gesture. Emerson's design was much enhanced by the sympathetic ornaments added by others. Vincent Esch's major contribution was the redesign of the foundations on innovative principles for which he was renowned, but he also supervised the production of the allegorical sculpture groups over the entrances and designed the elegant bridge on the north side, and the gates to the gardens. The gardens themselves were laid out by Lord Redesdale and Sir David Prain; their spaciousness and restraint emphasize the building's majesty. In the central hall, scenes from the life of the Queen were painted by Frank Salisbury, and the marble statue of the young Queen is by Sir Thomas Brock. A more elderly Queen in bronze by Sir George Frampton, sits enthroned on Esch's bridge, between narrative panels by Sir Goscombe Jhon. In the paved quadrangles and elsewhere around the building, other statues were added to commemorate Hastings, Cornwallis, Clive, Wellesley, and Dalhousie.

I have put on Workshop an old photograph of the construction of the Victoria Memorial on 19th Nov'1920.

I also appreciate the comments of a few of my favorite photographers and hope that this one has less grains and is not over sharpened. This one doesn't show a full photograph of the beautiful building, but is visibly a better photograph.