Dead Hero On Horseback

[poliphilo]

 So, we now know why the empty plinth in Trafalgar Square hasn't been permanently occupied yet; it has been earmarked (by whatever unelected clique really rules this island) for an equestrian statue of the present queen- to be erected after her death.

That is to say, for something of no artistic worth whatsoever, which future generations will ignore- just as we ignore the memorial statues on all the other plinths.

Because it's almost inconceivable that a real artist would be handed a commission like this, isn't it?

Or would want to undertake it. 

It's not just that public expectations will restrict the artist to the bland and generic- though it's that too- it's also that the genre "dead hero on horseback" is completely moribund. For all the implicit drama, there's surprisingly little you can do with it. A horse is a horse is a horse- and there's not much variation you can work in the rider's pose either: the legs can only go so, the back must be straight, at least one arm must be holding the reins. 

The problem was solved- back in the 1480s- by Andrea Del Verrocchio.  His Colleoni monument (I'd post a picture, but I can't find a decent one online) is the genre's definitive masterpiece. Everything since restates or copies Verrochio- and suffers by comparison.

Comments

[nostoi.livejournal.com]

The finishing touch of a traffic cone will be somewhat amusing at least.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Most statues can be improved by the application of a traffic cone.

[veronica-milvus.livejournal.com]

How interesting!

I was struck when going into Westminster Abbey by the sheer tonnage of stray marble, all crammed in like a junk yard, commemorating dukes, soldiers and statesmen long forgotten. Prime Minister Canning, for example, who I only ever heard of because my mother was born and raised in a Canning Street (long since demolished).

So few of us gain immortality! Eat your heart out, Ozymandias, you have competition!

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

One section of Westminster Abbey where most of the illustrious dead are still remembered and honoured is "poets corner".

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

Even our town of 1000 people decided on a sculpture that would symbolize everything we stand for.

The grant money was given to a local woman who worked in secret at first, then allowed people in to help a little, then worked in secret again.

Finally the huge piece was covered and hauled to the front of the library, where it was set in the middle of a prepared iris bed.

When the cover was taken off, the piece looked exactly like a huge blue tuba.

People like to set empty Coke cans in the tuba's top.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

LOL.

I hope you'll post a picture of that.

[nostoi.livejournal.com]

Hee hee. That reminds me of some "regeneration" that was going on on the island where I used to live. At the ferry slipway we were to have statues which represented the area and culture. We ended up with two vaguely human looking monstrosities in red sandstone. Apparently they were famous Vikings who had been in the locale sometime in the past.

The holes that were their mouths were just the right size to take a cigarette. Thus was begun a long-standing local tradition which infuriated the sculptor. Job done.

[oakmouse]

*snerk* That's funny.

I used to live near the university that Bing Crosby didn't graduate from. (They tactfully hide the fact that he was thrown out.) The big bronze statue of him that stood outside Crosby Library featured a pipe which the sculptor, for convenience' sake, made detachable. Of course, stealing it (and replacing it with other things, including fake joints of marijuana made from rolled up paper bags) instantly became a major pastime for students. The university didn't have the common sense to weld the pipe in place, they just had fits every time it was stolen.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I believe the young Crosby- like most musicians- used to enjoy the odd joint.

[oakmouse]

It wouldn't surprise me one bit.

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

I will, I promise, as soon as I return from Pennsylvania.

There's a grand name, too--something like Invincible or Avante or Coriolis.

[amritarosa.livejournal.com]

Oh, if only that commission were given to someone really daring and technically skilled....could be really very interesting. But it probably won't be.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I really don't see it happening.

[oakmouse]

*I* think they ought to do a statue like the one Trollope describes in Barchester Towers --- a lady reclining on a couch, beneath a fancy lace veil, with Death creeping out from under the couch and poking her with a toasting fork. At least the artist would enjoy making it.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Our cathedrals are full of monuments like that. I love 'em!

[oakmouse]

So do I!

[algabal.livejournal.com]

I kind of like the idea of statues commemorating mediocre figures. I mean, how else are we going to remember them? They should erect one to poet laureate Alfred Austin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Austin). He's taken a lot of flack in the last 70 years.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Poor Alfred Austin; it's a shame. It's not as if he murdered anybody.

It's strange how hard we are on bad poets. Bad novelists, bad playwrights get off much more easily- they're simply forgotten- but bad poets- or some of them, anyway- get held up as dreadful examples to subsequent generations.