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The Wellington Statue in Aldershot is a monument to Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington victor at the Battle of Waterloo and later Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Sculpted by Matthew Cotes Wyatt, it was the largest equestrian statue in Britain when it was unveiled at its original location on the Wellington Arch at Hyde Park Corner in 1846.〔Cole, 1980. p. 89.〕 ==Origins of the statue== In 1837 a Committee was formed under the chairmanship of the Duke of Rutland to raise sufficient funds for a memorial to Arthur Wellesley, the 1st Duke of Wellington. The sculptor was Matthew Cotes Wyatt. In the statue the Duke is shown on Copenhagen, the famous charger that he had ridden at Waterloo. Much of the bronze in the Statue is derived from French cannon captured at Waterloo and remelted in Wyatt's foundry. Wellington himself sat for the sculptor. Copenhagen, however, had died and a substitute horse was used as a model, which offended many at the time who saw a poor likeness to Copenhagen in the statue.〔Cole, 1980. p. 89.〕 The position selected for the sculpture was on top of the triumphal arch at Hyde Park Corner, built in 1827–8 in conjunction with an Ionic screen as part of a processional route between the park and Buckingham Palace.〔 Wellington had his London residence at Apsley House, immediately next to the screen.〔 The work was executed at Wyatt's workshop at Dudley House in the Harrow Road starting in May 1840. The modelling work was done by Wyatt's son James Wyatt. The model consisted of more than three tons of plaster of Paris formed over a timber frame with a beam for the backbone and transverse timbers like the ribs of a ship. The model was on a turntable in diameter and the artists could reach all parts of it by means of an adjustable stage that could be raised and lowered. The modelling work took three years.〔Cole, 1980. p. 90.〕 For casting, the model was lowered into a pit in a specially built foundry. The statue was cast in bronze melted in two furnaces; one could melt twelve tons at a time, but this was found insufficient, so a second furnace of 20 tons capacity was constructed. Even so, the body of the horse and the lower limbs of the duke were cast in two pieces and the rest of the statue was cast in a further six pieces all between thick. The legs of the horse were cast solid so as to bear the great weight.〔Cole, 1980. p. 90.〕 At the time it was the largest equestrian statue in Britain, being high, from Copenhagen's nose to tail, and in girth. It weighed 40 tons.〔Cole, 1980. p. 90.〕 In 1846 the statue was moved with great pageantry from Wyatt's workshop to Hyde Park Corner. It was transported on a huge low carriage that had wheels in diameter and had been constructed by H.M. Dockyards at Woolwich. The carriage was hauled by a hundred men of the Scots Fusilier Guards; as it emerged onto the road, it was greeted by enthusiastic cheers from the crowd of sightseers. Twenty nine horses then drew the carriage to Hyde Park Corner.〔Cole, 1980. p. 91.〕 It took some hours to get the statue into position for hoisting and the final lift and fixing into position on the victory arch was completed the following day.〔Cole, 1980. p. 92.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Equestrian statue of the Duke of Wellington, Aldershot」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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