Museums · London
Statue of James II
Statue of James II — Public artwork (statue) by Peter Van Dievoet, Laurens van der Meulen.
Wikimedia Commons contributors — see linked file page for photographer and licence licence
Plan your visit
- Typical visit
- 1.5 h–3 h
- Best time of year
- Year-round
- Nearest railway station
- Charing Cross · 0.2 km
- Family-friendly
- Wheelchair accessible
About
Statue of James II is a place of interest in the United Kingdom. Records date its origin to 1686. OpenStreetMap heritage rating: 2/5. Wikidata describes it as: "Public artwork (statue) by Peter Van Dievoet, Laurens van der Meulen.". Coordinates: 51.5085°, -0.1290°.
Photo gallery
From the Wikipedia article
The statue of James II is a bronze sculpture located in the front garden of the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London, United Kingdom. Probably inspired by French statues of the same period, it depicts James II of England as a Roman emperor, wearing Roman armour and a laurel wreath (traditionally awarded to a victorious Roman commander). It originally also depicted him holding a baton. It was produced by the workshop of Grinling Gibbons. The execution was most likely, according to contemporary accounts, the work of the Flemish sculptors Peter van Dievoet from Brussels and Laurens van der Meulen from Mechlin, rather than of Gibbons himself. The statue has been relocated several times since it was first erected in the grounds of the old Palace of Whitehall in 1686, only two years before James II was deposed.
Excerpt from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0. See the source article linked in Sources below.
Background
History
The statue of James II is one of three of the Stuart monarchs commissioned by the royal servant Tobias Rustat from Grinling Gibbons's workshop in the 1670s and '80s, the others being of James's brother and predecessor Charles II: an equestrian statue in Windsor Castle and a standing figure at the Royal Hospital in Chelsea. While the work was long attributed to Gibbons himself, large-scale sculptures were not his forte. Contemporary accounts attribute it to sculptors Peter van Dievoet of Brussels who came to London to cast this statue, and Laurens van der Meulen of Mechelen. in 1897, still with the now missing baton in the right hand|left]] The James II was erected at the Palace of Whitehall…
Description
The statue is executed in bronze and depicts James II as a Roman emperor. He is shown standing in a contrapposto pose and pointing downwards in "great ease of attitude and a certain serenity of air", as Allan Cunningham described it. Unusually for the time, the sculptor sought a degree of fidelity to original classical styles; James is depicted wearing a laurel wreath on top of short hair, whereas other imperial-style statues of both Charles II and James II depicted the two kings with an anachronistic combination of Roman armour and a 17th-century periwig. The statue was probably inspired by similar imperial portrayals of Louis XIV of France. One in particular, a colossal statue by Martin…
Sourced from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Coordinates
- 51.5085, -0.1290
- District
- Westminster
- Parish
- Westminster, unparished area
- Postcode
- SW1Y 5AY
- Parliamentary constituency
- Cities of London and Westminster
- Established
- 1686
- Nearest railway station
- Charing Cross — 0.2 km
- Opening
- Sa-Th 10:00-18:00; Fr 10:00-21:00
- Official site
- www.nationalgallery.org.uk
Sources
- osm: n3211564198 (ODbL)
- wikipedia: Statue of James II, Trafalgar Square (CC BY-SA 4.0)
- commons: Statue of James II, Trafalgar Square 02.JPG (CC BY-SA 4.0)
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Frequently asked questions
- Where is Statue of James II?
- Statue of James II is in London, United Kingdom (postcode SW1Y 5AY), in the parish of Westminster, unparished area.
- When was Statue of James II built?
- Built or established in 1686.
- How do I get to Statue of James II?
- The nearest railway station is Charing Cross, about 0.2 km away. Drivers can navigate to postcode SW1Y 5AY.