What is it with artist’s models? The first chance they get, their clothes seem to drop off. But it seems that the preoccupation with nudity is not a modern one; look around London and the city blossoms with naked or half-naked statues.
Achilles
This tribute to the Duke of Wellington and his men, cast by Sir Richard Westmacott from captured cannon, was unveiled in 1822. Oddly, the sword was only added in 1864. London’s first nude, it caused controversy and so a fig leaf was added. It has been broken off twice - in 1870 and 1961.
Hyde Park W1
Tube: Hyde Park Corner
Arthur Sullivan Memorial
This lady, mourning the death of the composing half of Gilbert & Sullivan, who produced 14 comic operas between them, is so upset that she has lost half her clothes. This beautiful piece by Goscombe John actually represents the distraught Muse of Music.
Victoria Embankment Gardens
Tube: Embankment
Onslow Ford Memorial
Overlooked by the many visitors to the famous pedestrian crossing at Abbey Road is this memorial to the sculptor Onslow Ford (1852-1901), which features a replica of his famous Shelley Memorial at Oxford. Ford also sculpted Rowland Hill’s statue near St Paul’s.
Abbey Rd/Grove End Rd NW8
Tube: St John's Wood
La Delivrance
Viscount Rothermere had this copy of a racy statue by Emile Guillaume put here in 1927, where he could see it on his way to visit his mother. It marks the victory of the French and British in World War I and especially the First Battle of the Marne in 1914, which saved Paris.
Henley's Corner NW3
Tube: Golders Green, Bus 102
Wikipedia entry
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I See Naked People
The Boy David
When Derwent Wood's original was stolen in 1963, this copy was made by (Edward) Bainbridge Copnall MBE (1903-1973). His father was the photographer, Edward White Copnall. His usual style is more abstract (see his Becket in the gardens of St Paul’s), so this is not a bad effort.
Ropers Garden SW3
Tube: Sloane Square (15mins)
Psyche
A lead copy of F. Derwent Wood’s bronze statue of Psyche was set up here on the west side of the bridge by Chelsea Arts Club in 1919. Webb also sculpted the nude David of the Machine Gun Corps Memorial, a (poor) copy of which stands in nearby Cheyne Walk (right).
Albert Bridge
Tube: Sloane Square (20mins)
Palace Theatre
High atop the theatre, you can see this lovely lady, her modesty barely preserved by a long headscarf. Built by Richard D’Oyly Carte in 1888, the theatre was to be the home of English grand opera. It was the venue for Fred Astaire’s final stage musical Gay Divorce, in 1933.
Cambridge Circus W1
Tube: Leicester Square
The Awakening
Standing in front of Chelsea Old Church is this small garden - an orchard for Sir Thomas More in the 1500s. Bombed in 1941, it holds a memorial to Jacob Epstein, whose studio was here from 1909-14, and this lovely nude by sculptor Gilbert Ledward (1888-1960), more noted for his war memorials.
Ropers Garden SW3
Tube: Sloane Square (15mins)
