Alfred Stevens (sculptor)

Alfred Stevens
Photograph of Alfred Stevens (from British Architect, published posthumously)
Born	31 December 1817 Blandford Forum, Dorset, England
Died	1 May 1875 London, England
Nationality	English
Education	Accademia di Belle Arti of Florence, Italy
Known for	Sculpture
Patron(s)	Rev. Samuel Best

Alfred George Stevens (31 December 1817 – 1 May 1875), was a British sculptor. His major work is the monument to the Duke of Wellington in St Paul's Cathedral.

Alfred Stevens was born on 31 December 1817 at Blandford Forum in Dorset, the son of a decorator and joiner. At the age of ten, he entered his father's workshop as an assistant. In 1833, the rector of his parish enabled him to go to Italy, where he spent nine years studying at Naples, Bologna, Siena, Pompeii, Capri, Rome, Milan, Venice, and Florence where he studied for a time at the Accademia di Belle Arti. Stevens had never attended an English school. In 1841, Bertel Thorvaldsen employed him for a year in Rome. After a significant period of study and training throughout Italy, Stevens returned to England.

In 1845, Stevens obtained a tutorial position in the School of Design at Somerset House, London, where he remained until 1847. In 1850 he became chief artist to the Sheffield firm of H.E. Hoole and Co. who specialised in bronze and metal work. While in Sheffield it is thought that Stevens devised plans which were eventually integrated into the design of the ornate gateway of the Green Lane Works of 1860. In 1852 he returned to London. To this period belongs his design for the vases on the railings in front of the British Museum, and also the lions on the dwarf posts which were subsequently transferred to the inside of the museum.