Calton Hill; National Monument of Scotland
Playfair, William Henry; Cockerell, Charles Robert
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Alternative Title
National Monument of Scotland
Date
1823-1826Description
Frontal view of finished portion, which faces Nelson Monument; The monument dominates the top of Calton Hill, just to the east of Edinburgh's New Town. Construction started in 1826 and the building was left in its unfinished state in 1829. It is Scotland's national memorial to the Scottish soldiers and sailors who died fighting in the Napoleonic Wars. Playfair was asked to collaborate with Charles Robert Cockerell in the creation of an exact facsimile of the Parthenon to crown Calton Hill. Its verisimilitude extended to the masonry, whose precision was to rival in sandstone the marble original. Financial constraints brought it to a dead halt in a few years, and for Playfair it remained "a striking proof of the pride and poverty of the Scots"; however, the experience provided the final polish to his architectural education, and its exacting construction set a standard of excellence from which he never deviated. Source: Grove Art Online; http://www.oxfordartonline.com/ (accessed 6/30/2012)
Type of Work
monument; memorialSubject
architecture, military or war, Napoleonic Wars, 1800-1815, Greek Revival, Nineteenth century
Rights
Rights Statement
Licensed for educational and research use by the MIT community only