Wellington Monument, London
The Wellington Monument is a statue representing
The monument's colossal 18 feet (5.5 m) high statue is by the sculptor Richard Westmacott, produced from melted-down captured enemy cannon. Based on the poses of the Borghese Gladiator and more particularly the Quirinal Horse Tamers, it 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. The monument was funded by donations from British women totalling £10,000. 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.
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, pitching the sculptor's supporters such as
The controversy may also have been linked to
References
- ^ "Achilles (The Wellington Monument)". The Victorian Web. 21 August 2006. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
- ^ Impression of this print at the British Museum.