Prospero and Ariel (BBC)

Eric Gill

"In 1932 Gill produced a group of sculptures, Prospero and Ariel, for the BBC's Broadcasting House in London."



Sculptures in Portland Stone at first floor level by Eric Gill.

right - On the west front again, Ariel is seen hearing Celestial Music.

Gill accepted the BBC's suggestion that the subject of his carvings should be Shakespeare's Ariel, who, as the invisible spirit of the air, could serve as a personification of radio broadcasting. top left - On the west front, this group shows Ariel between Wisdom and Gaiety. bottom left - On the east front, Ariel is represented piping to children.

The book of views of BH published by the BBC didn't include a picture of the largest of Gill's sculptures, that of Prospero and Ariel above the main entrance. Perhaps this was because of the controversy about a certain part of Ariel's anatomy which was considered by some to be rather too generously proportioned. Gill reduced the size of the offending area, but there were still calls for the sculpture to be removed.

Although the BBC wanted the group to represent Prospero and Ariel, Gill seems to have had a larger theme. Prospero is a very Biblical figure and the hands and feet of Ariel carry the marks of the stigmata. Gill's intention seems to have been to represent God the Father presenting God the Son to the world, on which they stand.

Colour photos from Kevin Johnson (above) and Robert Greer (left).

The photo on the right shows the sculpture in 2006 after cleaning and restoration. During the work the face, below, was found carved on the back. Apparently, there is a rumour about a cryptic message by Eric Gill the sculptor saying ‘the true face of the statue will only be seen when the building falls down’...

Exterior | Elevations | Sculptures | On the Roof

Key Facts Broadcasting House, London

Eric Gill Sculptures

The four external groups of sculpture were commissioned to Eric Gill.

He accepted the suggestion from the BBC that Shakespeare's Ariel, as the invisible spirit of the air, might well serve as a personification of broadcasting.

The two panels on the west front show "Ariel between wisdom and gaiety" and "Ariel hearing celestial music".

The panel over the entrance on the east side represents "Ariel piping to children".

The panel over the main entrance shows Propsero, Ariel's master, sending him out into the world.

In the main reception is Eric Gill's Sower, a man broadcasting seed. There is an inscription below - "Deus incrementum dat" (God giveth the increase, Corinthians, Chapter 3, verse 7).

哥林多前書 / 1st Corinthians

	有 說 、 我 是 屬 保 羅 的 ． 有 說 、 我 是 屬 亞 波 羅 的 ． 這 豈 不 是 你 們 和 世 人 一 樣 麼 。
5	亞 波 羅 算 甚 麼 ． 保 羅 算 甚 麼 ． 無 非 是 執 事 、 照 主 所 賜 給 他 們 各 人 的 、 引 導 你 們 相 信 。
6	我 栽 種 了 、 亞 波 羅 澆 灌 了 ． 惟 有 　 神 叫 他 生 長 。
7	可 見 栽 種 的 算 不 得 甚 麼 、 澆 灌 的 也 算 不 得 甚 麼 ． 只 在 那 叫 他 生 長 的 　 神 。
8	栽 種 的 和 澆 灌 的 都 是 一 樣 ． 但 將 來 各 人 要 照 自 己 的 工 夫 、 得 自 己 的 賞 賜 。

After Broadcasting House was opened, the sculpture of Prospero and Ariel above the main entrance caused controversy.

It was said that "maidens are said to blush and youths to pass disparaging remarks regarding the statues of Prospero and Ariel".

In the Evening News of 23 March 1933, St Pancras MP G.G. Mitchelson, who lived opposite the BBC, suggested to Parliament that the figures of Prospero and Ariel were "objectionable to public morals and decency".

The story goes that the sculpture was amended, at Reith's request, but there is no hard proof of this.

Eric Gill (1882-1940)

Gill was born in Brighton, the son of non-conformist minister.

While apprenticed to an architect in London, he became smitten with the world of calligraphy, which he entered by attending classes given by Edward Johnston.

He was profoundly influenced by Johnston's dedicated approach to work and decided to join the world of the Arts and Crafts.

During his lifetime he set up three self-sufficient religious communities where, surrounded by his retinue, he worked as sculptor, wood-engraver, and type designer.

He also wrote constantly and prodigiously on his favourite topics: social reform; the integration of the body and spirit; the evils of industrialisation; and the importance of the working man.

He converted to Catholicism in 1913 and this influenced his sculpture and writings.

Of the 11 typefaces that he designed, Gill Sans is his most famous; it is a clear modern type and became the letter of the railways - appearing on their signs, engine plates, and timetables - as well as becoming the brand typeface of the BBC, used on its logo and other corporate literature.

Gill described himself on his gravestone as a stone carver.

The problem with Ariel
There was a problem with the statue of Ariel, on the façade of the building above the main entrance.

Ariel is the spirit of the air from Shakespeare's play The Tempest, who sings beautiful, luring songs which entrance all visitors to stay on Prospero's magical island. He was thought to be an appropriate representation of the spirit of broadcasting.

However, Eric Gill's depiction of him caused the BBC.

Can the art of a paedophile be celebrated? By Finlo Rohrer

BBC News Magazine news.bbc.co.uk/nolpda/ukfs_news/hi/newsid_697...

Fiona MacCarthy wrote a biography of the sculptor and typographer Eric Gill in 1989 that dropped a small bomb on the art world.

Gill was one of the most respected artists of the 20th Century. His statue Prospero and Ariel adorns the BBC's Broadcasting House and the Creation of Adam is in the lobby of the Palais des Nations, now the European HQ of the United Nations in Geneva.

But MacCarthy's book revealed that he regularly had sex with two of his daughters, his sisters and even the family dog. These encounters he recorded in his diary.

Piece of work

For some of Gill's fans, even looking at his work became impossible. Most problematically, he was a Catholic convert who created some of the most popular devotional art of his era, such as the Stations of the Cross in Westminster Cathedral, where worshippers pray at each panel depicting the suffering of Jesus.

In 1998, spurred on by a cardinal's praise for Gill, Margaret Kennedy, who campaigns for Ministers and Clergy Sexual Abuse Survivors, called for the works to be removed.

"Survivors couldn't pray at the Stations of the Cross. They were done by a paedophile. The very hands that carved the stations were the hands that abused.

"He abused his maids, his prostitutes, animals, he was having sex with everything that moved - a very deranged man sexually."

But the Catholic Church would not budge an inch. The former Westminster Cathedral administrator, Bishop George Stack, retains an unequivocal view.

"There was no consideration given to taking these down. A work of art stands in its own right. Once it has been created it takes on a life of its own."

It might be easier to make this argument for the Stations of the Cross than for nude sketches of Gill's teenage daughter.

Thoughts and deeds

Gill is not the first artist to have committed terrible misdeeds. Travel back a few hundred years and you have the moral conundrums of the work of Caravaggio [painter, killer, supposed homoerotic depiction of boys] or Gesualdo [composer and double killer].

And if attitudes count as well as deeds then there are Wagner [composer, raging anti-Semite] and Larkin [poet, supposed racist and sexist].

"If you actually stop looking or listening to people whose moral conduct you disapprove of, you are not left with all that much," MacCarthy says.

"Gill's behaviour was obviously reprehensible. He was a child abuser and he did completely renege on his Catholic principles.

"But what do we do? Do we turn our eyes away from his wonderful works of art or do we, as I think we should, try to explore further and see how they were arrived at."

Censor or celebrate...