Triqueti Drawings

Volume of drawings by Henri de Triqueti, concerning the creation of the tarsia 'Marmor Homericum', with captions and notes in French and English, 1863-1869.

Baron Henri-Joseph-Franois de Triqueti (1803-1874) was one of the major sculptors of the nineteenth-century.Born in Conflans, Loiret, not far from Orlans, he was the son of a Piedmontese industrialist and diplomat. His artistic inclinations were encouraged by the family's neighbour and friend, the Romantic painter Anne-Louis Girodet. Triqueti went on to study under Louis Hersent, and exhibited at the Paris Salon from 1831 onwards, winning a medal for sculpture at his debut. In 1834 Triqueti won the commission for the mighty bronze doors of the Madeleine, and was widely praised for their bas-relief panels when they were installed in 1841. His success here resulted in his being awarded the Legion of Honour in 1842.

The patronage of the princely Orlans family brought Triqueti still more fame. For example, he sculpted the effigy for the tomb of the Duke Ferdinand of Orlans in 1842, and was also commissioned to work on Napoleon's tomb at the Invalides. In 1848, Triqueti was injured at the barricades. After his recovery he left for England, where Louis Philippe, King of the French (previously Duke of Orlans), had already sought refuge in the royal residence of Claremont in Surrey. In 1864, Queen Victoria commissioned him to collaborate with Sir George Gilbert Scott on transforming the Wolsey Chapel attached to St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle into the Albert Memorial Chapel (1864-74). Here he worked for most of the rest of his life on the design and execution of its marble ornamentation.

Triqueti also worked as a painter and art historian, and prepared educational pieces for apprentices, on such diverse subjects as George Stephenson and Elizabeth Fry. One of his papers was on 'The Three Museums of London' (the British Museum, the National Gallery and what is now the V & A), and, since he himself was a Protestant convert, he wrote a book about the history of Protestantism in France. His large tarsia 'Marmor Homericum' is still on display in the cloisters of University College, London; according to Didier Rykner, another was designed for University College Hospital.

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Originally property of Henri de Triqueti, who possibly gave it to University College in 1871. Transferred to Special Collections from College Collection in Mar 1988. Old accession no. 122106.

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