Statue of James II, Trafalgar Square

Statue of James II
Statue of James II
	The statue in 2015
Artist	Peter van Dievoet and Laurens van der Meulen at the workshop of Grinling Gibbons
Year	1686
Type	Statue
Medium	Bronze
Movement	Classicism
Subject	King James II
Location	London, WC2; United Kingdom
	51°30′30″N 0°07′44″W / 51.5084°N 0.1290°W
Listed Building – Grade I
Official name	Statue of James II in front of National Gallery west wing
Designated	5 February 1970
Reference no.	1217629

The statue of James II is a bronze sculpture^[2] located in the front garden of the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London, United Kingdom.^[3] 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,^[4] the work of the Flemish sculptors Peter van Dievoet from Brussels and Laurens van der Meulen from Mechlin,^[5] rather than of Gibbons himself.^[6] 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.

^ Cite error: The named reference NHLE was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ "Outside the Gallery". National Gallery, London. Archived from the original on 8 November 2015. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
^ "Statue: James II statue". LondonRemembers.com. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
^ Margaret Whinney, Sculpture in Britain 1530-1830, London, 1964, p. 55 : « the James is beautifully poised, looking down towards his baton, the line of which plays a great part in the design, and would compare most favourably with any Continental work. And indeed it is Continental and not English woork ; for though it was ordered from Gibbons for £300 by Tobias Rustat, Yeoman of the Robes, and set up in the Palace of Whitehall at the end of 1686, two Flemings, Laurens of Malines and Dievot of Brussels, were employed to 'model and make' it ».
^ "Artistes, de père en fils". Site-LeVif-FR. 21 November 2008. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[NHLE-1] Cite error: The named reference NHLE was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[2] "Outside the Gallery". National Gallery, London. Archived from the original on 8 November 2015. Retrieved 13 September 2014.

[LR-3] "Statue: James II statue". LondonRemembers.com. Retrieved 13 September 2014.

[4] Margaret Whinney, Sculpture in Britain 1530-1830, London, 1964, p. 55 : « the James is beautifully poised, looking down towards his baton, the line of which plays a great part in the design, and would compare most favourably with any Continental work. And indeed it is Continental and not English woork ; for though it was ordered from Gibbons for £300 by Tobias Rustat, Yeoman of the Robes, and set up in the Palace of Whitehall at the end of 1686, two Flemings, Laurens of Malines and Dievot of Brussels, were employed to 'model and make' it ».

[5] "Artistes, de père en fils". Site-LeVif-FR. 21 November 2008. Retrieved 9 December 2019.

[:0-6] Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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