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LONDON STATUES - RELIGION

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LONDON STATUES - RELIGION     London’s statues aren’t only about kings, generals and politicians. Scattered across the capital are monuments to men and women whose influence came through faith - from medieval archbishops to Victorian social reformers. From the martyrdom of  Thomas Becket  to the East End mission of  William and Catherine Booth , these statues trace seven centuries of religious history written into London’s streets. THOMAS BECKET (c.1119-1170 )       One of England’s most dramatic church–state clashes is graphically commemorated at St Paul’s. Thomas Becket began life as the trusted chancellor and close friend of King Henry II, but after becoming Archbishop of Canterbury he fiercely defended the independence of the Church. Their dispute ended violently in 1170. Henry, frustrated by Becket’s resistance to royal authority angrily uttered the words: “Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?” Four knights took the remark as a comm...
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LONDON STATUES - PHILOSOPHERS

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  LONDON STATUES - PHILOSOPHERS      I know next to nothing about philosophy - making me ideally qualified to comment on it - although the pen pictures have been shamelessly copied and pasted from ChatGPT.  Feel free to make your own uninformed comments, after all this is what social media is all about, the clueless leading the clueless. Any pearls of wisdom/thoughts (perish the thought) of my own in this post are in italics, they will likely be cliché-laden and should be taken with a pinch of salt.       Not so long ago, old farts in the pub mostly discussed the three Ps: Property, Pensions and Prostates (not Plato). But in  these surreal times, the main subject of conversation is more likely to be American Politicians who could learn something from these learned philosophers - obviously not Marx, who I believe was a bit of a leftie.      Unsurprisingly, all ten statues are of m en - who  (as I’ve been told many time...
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DAVID WYNNE SCULPTURES

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         THE SCULPTURE OF DAVID WYNNE ( 1926 - 2014)      Sir David Wynne was one of the most prolific creators of permanent public sculpture in London, with a remarkable number of iconic works - including several signature pieces along the Thames and in parks.      Born in Lyndhurst, Hampshire, in 1926, he was educated at Stowe School in Buckinghamshire. After serving in the Royal Navy during World War II, he read zoology at Trinity College, Cambridge - a background that later influenced his approach to sculpture, especially in capturing animal movement and form.      Although he never attended formal art school, Wynne took up sculpture professionally in around 1950 and quickly gained recognition, going on the receive major public commissions throughout Britain and abroad.     David Wynne married Gillian Grant in 1959 and they had two sons; one of them, Roly, later became the model for Wynne’s Boy with a Do...
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