Statue of George III, Somerset House

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The statue of George III, Somerset House, formally titled George III and the River Thames,[1] is a Grade I listed outdoor bronze sculptural group depicting King George III and Neptune or Father Thames, located in the quadrangle of Somerset House, London, England.[2][3] The sculptor was John Bacon,[2] and the statue was erected between 1778 and 1789.[nb 1]

George III is dressed in Roman apparel, leaning on a rudder, flanked by the prow of a Roman boat and a lion.[3] Father Thames is reclining on a lower, semi-circular plinth, one hand on an urn with a cornucopia behind him.[3][2]

When Queen Charlotte first saw the statue of her husband she asked the sculptor 'Why did you make so frightful a figure?'. Bacon bowed and replied 'Art cannot always effect what is ever within the reach of Nature – the union of beauty and majesty.'[6]

Notes

  1. The dating of the work varies. The 1841 Dictionary of dates, and universal reference gives 1788,[4] while Historic England and a 1910 survey by the London County Council state 1780.[2][3] The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography entry for the sculptor, John Bacon, mentions commissions he received in 1788 and dates this sculpture to the 'same period'.[1] Margaret Whinney in Sculpture in Britain, 1530–1830 dates the 'design' of this and other works to 1778–1789.[5]

References

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External links

Media related to Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. at Wikimedia Commons

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