A HUGE STATUE OF a naked man holding up a shield in his left hand stands opposite the London Hilton Hotel, across Park Lane. It looks as if he is defending himself from missiles being hurled from the upper floors of the hotel.  Depicting the ancient hero Achilles, it is the Wellington Monument, commemorating the victories of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, and his men who helped achieve them.

The statue was designed by the sculptor Richard Westmacott (1775-1856), it was inaugurated in 1822 by King George IV.  On its granite base, there are the names of four of Wellington’s military victories: Salamanca, Vittoria, Toulouse, and Waterloo. The statue was financed by donations given by British women.

Although I think that the statue is unattractive, there are two things about it that I find interesting. It was the first public nude sculpture in London since ancient times. Despite the presence of a fig-leaf, this caused quite a bit of controversy when it was unveiled. The other thing that attracted my attention is that the sculpture was cast from the enemy’s cannons captured at the four places mentioned above, and then melted down.

There is a phrase ‘from swords to ploughshares’. The Wellington Monument must be one of the few examples of ‘from cannons to nudes’.