The English Sculptor, Alfred Stevens, has not – before now – been the subject of a significant study. This new book considers in detail all stages of his fascinating career and the breadth of his creativity. Stevens was born in Dorset in 1817, the son of a decorator; considered a prodigy as a child, he was sent to Italy to study art. Deeply impressed by the way painting, sculpture and architecture were harmoniously combined in the Renaissance, he followed this lead and applied it to all types of design, for everyday objects such as fire grates as well as grand schemes like the Wellington Monument. In so doing he pioneered the more inclusive and integrated approach to art that emerged towards the end of the nineteenth century.
Teresa Sladen is an authority on Victorian architecture and art. She has served as a Director of The Victorian Society and The Mausolea and Monuments Trust and was a founder member of the latter. Her publications include ‘Churches, 1870-1914 (Studies in Victorian Architecture and Design Volume 3)’ (2010), which she both contributed to and co-edited. Sladen has also published on the mosaics of the Albert Memorial and the decoration of St. Paul’s Cathedral.