Wellington Monument, London
London's first public nude statue since antiquity, cast from captured cannon.
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via Wikipedia: Wellington Monument, London · see source
Where it is
Coordinates: 51°30′18″N 0°09′11″W (51.5050, -0.1530) · Open in OpenStreetMap
Coordinates and connected clubs: the infobox of Wikipedia: Wellington Monument, London (CC BY-SA 4.0). Map: drawn by Codexery from OpenStreetMap tiles.
The Wellington Monument is a statue representing Achilles erected as a memorial to Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, and his victories in the Peninsular War and the latter stages of the Napoleonic Wars. It is sited at the south-western end of Park Lane in London, and was inaugurated on 18 June 1822. Its total height, including the sculpture, base and the mound on which it stands, is 36 ft.
The monument's colossal 18 ft high statue is by the sculptor Richard Westmacott, produced from melted-down captured enemy cannon. The monument was funded by donations from British women totalling £10,000. This was London's first public nude sculpture since antiquity and, though the artist had already included a fig leaf over the figure's genitalia, much controversy still resulted.
Background
The statue shows the Greek mythological hero as a muscular, nude young man, raising his shield with his left hand and his short sword in his right hand, with his armour standing by his right thigh and his cloak draped over his left shoulder. Its pose is based on the Borghese Gladiator and more particularly the Quirinal Horse Tamers. On being transported to its final site, the entrance gates into Hyde Park were too low for it to fit, so it proved necessary to knock a hole in the adjoining wall. The inscription on the statue's Dartmoor granite base reads: 'To Arthur Duke of Wellington / and his brave companions in arms / this statue of Achilles / cast from cannon taken in the victories / of Salamanca, Vittoria, Toulouse, and Waterloo / is inscribed / by their country women / Placed on this spot / on the XVIII day of June MDCCCXXII / by command of / His Majesty George IIII.'
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Wellington Monument, London (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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