A FRENCH SCULPTOR IN WILTSHIRE: HENRI DE TRIQUETI AT TEFFONT EVIAS 



39 



Fig. 5. Henri de Triqueti : Marmor Homericum, marble tarsia 1865. University College London, south cloister. 

 (Photograph courtesy of the Conway Library, the Courtauld Institute of Art) 



pyramidal format necessitated three separate 

 sections of marble, the vertical joints of which are 

 clearly visible. 



The illustration reveals a problem concerning 

 the mounting of the panel on the wall of the chapel. 

 At the base of the panel is an engraved horizontal 

 line. This line seems to continue around the whole 

 piece (it is just visible on the right hand edge) but 

 has been cut off on both sides by the wooden frame. 

 The frame also appears to cut through the wings of 

 one of the angels on the right side, and both 

 Triqueti's signature and the ribbon on that side are 

 uncomfortably close to it. This cutting of the image 

 may have been the result of positioning the marble 

 incorrectly. The photograph makes clear that the 

 marble panel is held up by metal clamps and that it 

 was, therefore, probably attached to the wall without 

 the frame When the latter was added, it was realised 

 that the panel had been placed too close to the 

 ceiling of the chapel. The frame had to be lowered, 

 revealing the engraved line at the bottom but hiding 



the side ones. This adjustment further explains 

 why the lower edge of the work cuts across the 

 top of the window in such a disconcerting manner. 

 Triqueti was to adopt a different solution to the 

 border in his subsequent tarsia panels. 



The exhibition of the Teffont Evias panel in 

 London in July 1863 may have been one reason 

 why George Grote (1794-1871), best known for 

 his twelve-volume History of Greece (1846-1856), 

 commissioned Triqueti for another example of his 

 marble tarsia work. 37 This was the Marmor 

 Homericum (Fig. 5) which was presented by Grote 

 to University College London, an institution with 

 which he had been associated since the 1820s and 

 of which he became Vice Chancellor in 1862. The 

 Marmor Homericum was unveiled in May 1865 in 

 the south cloister of University College where it 

 remains. 38 It consists of a principal panel, 9 feet by 

 6 feet, which depicts Homer reciting the story of 

 Hector's death and Andromache's grief to the 

 people of Greece. Above and below this are smaller 



