Fitzwilliam prevents the export of bust of Queen Victoria
(Artdaily.org)

Sir Alfred Gilbert`s little known masterpiece – a virtuoso monumental white marble bust of Queen Victoria as an ageing monarch – has been saved for the nation after the Fitzwilliam Museum raised the necessary £1,077,607 to prevent it being exported to a museum in New York. This majestic marble monolith is arguably the most impressive and sensitive portrait ever made of the iconic and oft-portrayed Queen-Empress, without doubt one of the most important women in British history. It is a pivotal work in the development of British sculpture at the end of the nineteenth century and is entirely carved by Gilbert; the most talented and idiosyncratic sculptor of Victorian Britain. It is the only surviving marble by Gilbert in the UK. The Fitzwilliam devoted the recent Hartley-Johnson Bequest to this acquisition of international significance along with gifts from individual benefactors. The shortfall was generously met by