SOME LONDON STATUES.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXXVI, Issue 22, 2 June 1906, Page 19

SOME LONDON STATUES.

CULPTURE has always been the •k Cinderella of the Arts in -EngA X land, and its best specimens (not V y forgetting the many tine works in St. Paul’s and Westminster Abbey) are to be seen in the galleries of the great and rich, writes Charles 11. Heydeinann. The great evil from whieli London suffers, as regards open-air statuary, is the smoky condition of the atmosphere. Of course it is difficult to get anything to harmonise with the peculiar biaeKness of London, but why not follow the example of ancient Rome, which had at one time more than 8000 statues in the open, all of them gilt? The statue of Queen Elizabeth, at the side entrance to St. Dunstans-in-the-West. is an unobtrusive figure tucked away at the eastern end of the church. This" effigy of hers in ruffle and farthingale. so well displayed in the famous ‘•rainbow’’ portrait by Zitcehero, in Hatfield House, is more an interesting relic, having survived the great fire of London, when it adorned the front of Ludgate (together v%'th the statues of King Lud and his two sons) than a striking representation of the masterful woman who ruled England at the most glorious period of her history. . Wandering furthest west, first thing that strikes the eye in Trafalgar Square is the Nelson column. The statue of Nelson is 17 feet high, but perched up as it is on a granite column 145 feet above the spectator, it is difficult to decide upon the artistic value of this work of Bailv’s, who, by the way, was a pupil of Flaxman’s. As far as anybody 3 At the base‘‘-of' the statue is concerned Mt, might be a statue Of‘England’s ~ enemy, ’Napoleon himself, "to judge by the legendary swallow-tail eoat and cocked hat, which would look just as much irf place on top of the Vendomecolumn, in'Paris, as they do here. The only distinctive details are the hanging sleeveless arm and the coil of ship’s rope against which Nelson is leaning. In front of the Nelson column, facing towards Whitehall, the place of his execution, stands the equestrian statue of Charles I. "Modelled by Robert Lesueur, a pupil of John of Bologna, it was taken down by the Revolutionary Parliament, and ordered to be broken up. But the brazier to whom it was handed buried it underground, intact, driving meanwhile a brisk trade in knives and forks with bronze handles.’ ostensibly made but of the Wnbaqous statue. ' Then when Charles IL artel the Royalists were again in power and fashion; the bronze statue came forth to light,’ atid was set up in 1074 here, where his murderers had perished. ' What a degradation this statue, with its little ’ square-wizened figure, crouching on the enormous horse, is to the memory of our Royal Charles, who, whatever may have lieen his faults, was yet pre-eminent by his stately reserve, personal dignity and decency of manners, in such striking contrast to the gabble and indecorum of his father. It was a poetical, happy idea to place the King gazing at Whitehall, the place of his downfall, but then his whole attitude should have expressed the feeling, “ And yet, in spite of all, I am the King.” Only Vandyke has given us the real picture of the than whose proud motto was “Nulla vestigia retrorsum.” ■ Of Hampden, another of the leading figu res which emerges from those troublous times, there is a statue in 'St. Stephen’s Hall, forming one of twelve ranged along both sides of the hall, who rose to eminence by their eloquence and ability. Mr. Philip Smith, of the House of Conttnons, informs me. that “it is by J. 11. Foley; it does not bear Hie date, but I should think it was executed somewhere in the sixties-. ■ It is perhaps noteworthy that these statues stand just in the hall k'xm the actual site of which'stood the llduso of Commons before the fire, and within the walls of which the real statesmen thundered

forth their eloquence. lijnqMlen's statue stands just at the buck of where formerly stood the Speaker's chair, and the table from which Cromwell ordered the bauble to bo removed.”

The work of our one notable sculptor (born in Amsterdam). Grinling Gibbons, is the well-known statue of .lames 11., now liehind the New Admiralty, in St. Janies* Park. It was set up in 1686. just two-years before his abdication, anti is of bronze. representing the King dressed in a Roman toga. It has h”< n claimed for tliis statue that it is the only one in the Metropolis that will bear a rigid inspec-' ’tion as a work of art. It may be taken as a sign of the moderation of the Revolution of 1688. that, after the accession of Vyilliam of Orange, the statue was still left standing. William lll.’s statue stands in the centre of St. James’ Square, where formerly was a large oval basin of water. John Timbs tells as that a pedestal for a statue was erected in the centre of the square in 1732, but the statue, east in brass by the younger Bacon, was not set up till 1808, the bequest in 1724 for the cost having been forgotten until the money was found in the lids of unclaimed dividends. The external appearance of William is almost as well known to us as to his own captains and counsellors. His name calls up at on«X‘ before us ”a slender and feeble frame, a lofty and ample forehead, a nose curved like the beak of an eagle, an eye rivalling that of an eagle in brightness and keenness, a thoughtful and somewhat sullen brow, a firm and somewhat peevish mouth, cheeks pair, thin, and deeply furrowed by sickness and care.”. Now he rides in solitude such as would have pleased even his secluded tastes, the railings in St. James' Square.