The Memorial’s Meaning

Manawatu Times, Volume XLIX, Issue 3264, 6 February 1926, Page 10

The Memorial’s Meaning

The striking features of Palmerston’s Memorial are its beauty and i simplicity. The design was entrusted to one of the younger generation , [ i • of British sculptors, Mr. F. V. Blundstone. That he could write R.B.S. f after his name, indicating that he had by the sheer merit of his work gained admission to the ranks of the Royal Society of British Sculptors, would in itself be a guarantee of the artistic value of the memorial were that fact not abundantly evident in the loveliness of the figure which crowns the monument and the brilliant craftsmanship of the bronze bas-reliefs circling the pedestal. A f ,rS 3 . a is r * st is ‘ The bronze figure, which will for ever guard the names of our ’j dead, has a twofold symbolism—motherhood, the pre-eminent personi- j fication of sacrifice—and reverence, the people’s attitude towards the memory of the men who died. ' a m a ;; ?: Of greater pictorial Interest, and in a measure of finer craftsmanship, are the seven bronze panels on which the artist, with consummate skill, has retold the story of those terrible four years—the embarkation; the amazing armada which crossed the seven seas; the moving mass of men nearing the fields of Flanders; the shock of battle; the Inoble j work pf the Red Cross; and, finally, the gladness and sadness of the ? I f home-coming. r | . :: s a a a Because high art has been wedded to fine imagination, these bronzes will retain an evergreen interest for the citizens of this nq, mean city, and will help to make the memorial what it is designed to be—the choice centre-piece of a beautiful garden city.