George IV

Francis Chantrey

1831

Bronze on a granite pedestal

Intersection of George Street and Hanover Street, Edinburgh.

As the inscription explains, Chantrey's statue at this busy intersection commemorates George IV's visit to Edinburgh in 1822. In the Quarterly of 1826, "the national subject matter, the fact that 'the works of Chantrey are all of a domestic or historical kind' was given as the main reason for considering his work as 'not only the true but the classic sculpture of our country'" (see Potts 17). One has to interpret "true" rather carefully when faced with such a respectfully idealised "likeness" of this portly monarch!

Photograph and text Jacqueline Banerjee

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