Public Monument and Sculpture Association National Recording Project
The Holdsworth Cenotaph Photograph
Region ID | EM | |
Work ID | 141 | |
Manual Reference | LE149TC | |
Type | Other | |
Title | The Holdsworth Cenotaph | |
Sculptor | Hayward, Richard | |
Date of design | 1764 | |
Year of unveiling | ||
Unveiling details | ||
Road | Church Road | |
Precise Location | In the gardens of Belgrave Hall (a Leicester Museum); in the Monument Garden beyond the Herbaceous Garden | |
A to Z Ref | 20 C2 (1) | |
OS Ref | SK592072 | |
Postcode | ||
Work is | Extant | |
Listing Status | II | |
Duty of Care | Leicester City Council | |
Commissioned by | Charles Jennens | |
Notes | ||
The cenotaph is located in the Monument Garden, a small area surrounded on three sides by conifers, at the far end of the garden of the Herbaceous Garden, in a direct line from the Hall. It has a heavy cornice and scrolled corner brackets and is crowned by a large vase. On the (west) face towards the Hall is a relief of a ruined pyramid from which foliage sprouts; Nichols identifies to this as Virgil’s tomb. On the left (north) face is the inscription on a ‘ruined’ panel; above the panel is a bust, supposedly of Virgil, and beneath a relief depicting antique fragments. On the rear (east) face is a mourning winged Genius leaning on a reversed torch, still flaming. The right (south) face bears the inscription. | ||
circa | ||
raw year | ||
Condition | Poor | |
At risk | At Risk | |
Inscriptions | Inscriptions, incised in capital letters: - on the left (north) face of the cenotaph (now illegible; the following transcription is from Nichols [2]): E. HOLDSWORTH, NATUS 1684, MORTUUS 1746. / INSCRIPTIONEM PRÆSTOLATUS USQUE AD 1764. / MIRARIS FORSAN, LECTOR, NEC IMMERITO, / HUNC OMNI LAUDE DIGNISSIMUM VIRUM / SINE SAXO ET SINE NOMINE CORPUS / JAMDIU JACUISSE! / VERUM ISTE REGULUS, QUI ELOQUIUM POLLICEBATUR / DUM PER PLURES ANNOS / ORATIONIBUS VEL ORATIONCULIS, / ET VERSIBUS SATYRICO-POLITICIS, / SCRIBENDIS, DICENDIS ET AGENDIS, / SUO DENIQUE SUIPSIUS ELOGIO / INANEM SIBI GLORIAM AUCUPATUR, / FAMÆ INTERIM MELIORIS OBLITUS, / AMICIS QUAM DEDERAT FIDEM FEFELLIT. [translation: E. Holdsworth, born 1684, died 1746. He did not receive an inscription until 1764. You may perhaps wonder, reader, and with good reason, that this man most worthy of all praise has lain for so long a nameless corpse without a stone. The petty Dr. King held out promises of an inscription, but instead gained an empty glory for his own epitaph by writing and making little speeches and verses of political satire: he thus neglected a man more deserving of fame, and betrayed the trust placed in him by his friends.] (3) - on the right (south) face of the cenotaph (only partly legible): QUOD GENIUS DIU SOLICITATUS NEGAVIT, / PROMISIT ENIM, NEC TAMEN PRÆSTITIT, / ID DEMUM IMPAR QUIDEM CONATUI, / SED INDIGNATA / PRÆSTAT AMICITIA. / IN MEMORIAM VIRI INTEGERRIMI / EDWARDI HOLDSWORTH. / DE QUO, SI MAGNA LOQUI VIDEAR. / QUOD MARONEM FELICISSIME JUVENIS IMITATUS. / PARI FELICITATE SENIOR ILLUSTRAVIT, DEFENDIT: / QUOD ÆDES MAGDALENIANAS. / QUAS INGENIO, ERUDITIONE, VIRTUTIBUS ALUMNUS ORNAVERAT / DOCTRINA AC PERITIA ARCHITECTONICA. / AB IISDEM ÆDIBUS IMO ET A PATRIA / PER TEMPORUM INIQUITATEM EXTORRIS. / ELEGANTER INSTAURANDAS CURAVIT: / HOC MULTO MAJUS: / QUOD ADOLESCENTES PRO VIRILI SUIS ARTIBUS IMBUIT ET MORIBUS. / CONTRA DEGENERIS ÆVI VITIA / PRIVATA SIMUL ET PUBLICA / NON MINUS EXEMPLO, QUAM MONITIS MUNIVIT. / ILLUD VERO LONGE MAXIMUM. / QUOD MUNDUM DEO NATUS VICIT: / QUOD, DEI MANDATO OBTEMPERANS. / E GREMIO ALMÆ MATRIS EXIVIT / NESCIUS QUO ESSET ITURUS: / SED ENIM CIVITATEM HABENTEM [two words in Greek] / CUJUS ARCHITECTUS EST DEUS. / FIDE VERE ABRAMICA. / VERE EVANGELICA. / FRETUS EXPECTAVIT. / HÆC NI FALLOR / QUINQUID CONTRA OBLATRENT PSEUDO-POLITICI. / HÆC CONSENSU BONORUM OMNIUM / OPINIONIBUS QUANTUMVIS DIVERSORUM / SUMMA SAPIENTIA. (4) [translation: What Genius refused despite frequent appeals, Friendship, indignant at this promise without fulfilment, now offers, though it be unequal to the task. In memory of a most upright man Edward Holdsworth. If I appear to praise him, it is for the following reasons. As a young man he wrote most felicitous imitations of Virgil, and in riper years with equal success expounded and defended him; as a member he graced Magdalen College with his talent, learning and virtues, and with his knowledge and understanding of architecture. Yet even when, through the wickedness of the times, he had been banished from the college and from his own native land, he made plans for the college to be elegantly restored. By his skills and character he fortified the young no less by example than by his advice against the vices of a degenerate age, both private and public. Most important by far is that the Son of God overcame the world, and obeying the Commandment of God, he left the lap of his Blessed Mother knowing not where he would go: but trusting in the faith of Abraham, the faith of the Gospel, he looked forward to that city with firm foundations whose Architect is God. It I am not mistaken, whatever carping objections false politicians may make, all good men, however varied their opinions, agree that this is the highest wisdom.] (5) | |
Signatures | None | |
Elements
Element Details
Part of work | Material | Dimensions |
|---|---|---|
cenotaph | marble | h (est) 310 cm; w. 134 cm; d. 134 cm |
Assessment of Condition
Surface Character
Detail | Comment |
|---|---|
Corrosion, Deterioration | the surface of the marble is very weathered; inscription on N. face completely illegible; that on S. face partly illegible |
Structural Condition
Structural Condition | Comment |
|---|---|
Broken, missing parts | chunk of moulding below fluted frieze on N. face missing; front left corner of cornice damaged |
Cracks, splits, breaks, holes | joins where the cenotaph has been re-assembled rough; damaged in places |
Vandalism
Vandalism | Comment |
|---|---|
Graffiti | Much of it recent, mostly on face away from sight of house (winged Genius relief) |
Surface damage | The graffiti has been scratched in |
