Wellington Monument, Achilles Statue

Achilles Statue "To Arthur, Duke of Wellington, and his brave companions in arms", by Richard Westmacott, 1822

The 33 ton bronze statue by Sir Richard Westmacott (located in the south east corner of the park) was erected in 1822 by the swooning “Women of England” and, cheekily, was the city’s first nude monument. Strangely, the muscled vision of manhood it depicts is of neither Wellington nor Achilles, but is actually based on a statue of a horse-tamer in the Piazza del Quirinale in Rome. The bronze was salvaged from captured French canon, and a fig leaf addition was later added to “preserve public decency”.

Photo 189, May 2011