Saturday, June 16, 2007

The Achilles Statue, Hyde Park

Shot with Olympus E500
This statue is in Hyde Park, and was built as a tribute to Arthrur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington by "the Women of England". Created in 1822 it reads:
To Arthur, Duke of Wellington,
and his brave companions in arms
this statue of Achilles
cast from cannons won at the victories
of Salmanaca, Vittoria, Toulouse and Waterloo
is inscribed by their countrymen
It was the very first statue of a naked man on public display in London. Originally anatomically correct, the fig leaf was added later to save blushes although it has been chipped off twice - in 1870 and 1961. If you look closely at the large image you can see it is added. Two contemporary cartoons show the furore it caused. Appropriately enough, last week's bike ride started from here.

See where: London Daily Photo Map

posted by Ham at 00:09 -- Comments here: 5

Comments on "The Achilles Statue, Hyde Park"

 

Blogger John Nez said ... (02:42) : 

Nevermind the headless & armless torso next to him... it's the figleaf that gets all the attention!

Looks amazingly contemporary for Cruikshank to have been drawing cartoons of it.

 

Blogger Cheltenhamdailyphoto said ... (19:55) : 

Oh yes the figleaf goodness! What a lot of spoilsports.

 

Blogger Jean said ... (15:20) : 

This has always been one of my favourite statues.

 

Anonymous skyline said ... (22:52) : 

It is an amazing Statue

 

Anonymous Bernard Leak said ... (20:59) : 

Errr... in what sense was the statue more "anatomically correct" before the fig-leaf was added? More informative, I suppose, but it's hardly more correct.
Was it, perhaps, a slip for "botanically correct"?

 

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Name: Ham Location: London, United Kingdom View my complete profile