Sir George Gilbert Scott was the leading architect of the Gothic Revival, a man of phenomenal energy, influence and success.
Detail from an original design for the Albert Memorial, watercolour by George Gilbert Scott, England, about 1863. Museum no. E.2601-1962
George Gilbert Scott (1811–1878) was born in Buckinghamshire in 1811. His father, the Reverend Thomas Scott, was an amateur architect. In 1827 Scott moved to London to begin formal training with the architect, James Edmeston, who later complained that Scott 'wasted his time sketching medieval buildings'. In the early 1840s Scott began to take a serious interest in the medieval Gothic style of architecture. Travelling around Europe he studied medieval art first hand, finding inspiration in both architecture and in metalwork shrines and reliquaries. His first Gothic-style building was the Martyrs' Memorial, Oxford, built in 1840.
The term 'Gothic Revival' applies to the 19th-century use of designs based on the art and architecture of medieval Europe. Designers drew on Gothic architectural features such as pointed arches, trefoils, quatrefoils and naturalistic foliage. During the 1860s fashion favoured the 'Reformed Gothic style' which was based on 13th-century French models. Scott particularly admired French Gothic architecture, notably the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris of about 1241-8 with its brilliantly painted interior, stained glass and delicate tracery.
Sir George Gilbert Scott, born 200 years ago today!
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