Decorative paneling from the Palace of Westminster
ca. 1845–59
Medium
Oak
Dimensions
Overall (confirmed): 20 × 12 5/16 × 5/8 in. (50.8 × 31.3 × 1.5 cm)
Classification
Woodwork-Architectural
Culture
British
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, The James Parker Charitable Foundation and Friends of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts Gifts, and funds from various donors, 2015
Accession Number
2015.675
Art Historical Context
This exquisite oak decorative paneling hails from the grand Palace of Westminster, the seat of Britain's Parliament, redesigned after the devastating 1834 by architects Charles Barry and Augustus Welby Northmore P. Created around 1845–59, it exemplifies Pugin's passion for the Gothic Revival movement which sought to revive the ornate medieval aesthetics of England's cathedrals and castles amid the Industrial Revolution's mechanized world. Pugin, a fervent advocate for moral architecture, believed Gothic forms embodied spiritual truth and national heritage. Crafted from sturdy oak—a traditiona...
About the Artist
Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin · 1812–1852
Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin (1812–1852) was a British architect, designer, and theorist whose fervent advocacy for Gothic architecture transformed Victorian Britain's built environment and established the intellectual foundations of the Gothic Revival movement. Born in London to the French architect and draughtsman Auguste Charles Pugin, he showed exceptional talent from childhood, producing de...