Statue of Jan Smuts, Parliament Square
51°30′03″N 0°07′37″W / 51.50087°N 0.12690°W / 51.50087; -0.12690
A life-size bronze statue of Jan Smuts by the British artist Jacob Epstein stands on the north side of Parliament Square in London, United Kingdom, between a statue of Lord Palmerston and a statue of David Lloyd George.[1]
Description
The statue depicts him in his military uniform as a field marshal, leaning forward with his left leg advanced, as if walking forward. The statue stands on a pedestal of granite from South Africa, which bears the inscription JAN/ CHRISTIAN/ SMUTS/ 1870–1950.
History
After Winston Churchill won the general election in October 1951, he proposed erecting a statue in Parliament Square as a memorial to Smuts, who had died in September 1950. Churchill retired as prime minister in 1955, and was too ill to perform the unveiling in November 1956; it was unveiled instead by the Speaker of the House of Commons, William Morrison. The statue became a Grade II listed building in 1970.[2]
See also
References
External links
- Jan Christian Smuts – Parliament Square, London, UK at Waymarking
- Statue of Field Marshal Jan Smuts, National Heritage List for England Historic England
- Smuts statue, londonremembers.com
- Parliament Square Garden, london.gov.uk
- The Statues of Parliament Square, Bowl Of Chalk – London Walking Tours, 12 November 2013
- Parliament Square statues, Bob Speel
- Smuts Statue Unveiled 1956, Pathé
- v
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- List of sculptures
- Oscar Wilde's tomb (1912–1914)
- Rock Drill (c. 1913–1915)
- Torso in Metal from Rock Drill (c. 1913–1916)
- Bust of Winston Churchill (1947)
- Statue of Jan Smuts (1956)
- Liverpool Resurgent (1956)
- St Michael's Victory over the Devil (1958)
- The Rush of Green (1959)
- Epstein Archive
- Kathleen Garman (second wife, model)
- Theodore Garman (son)
- Kitty Garman (daughter)
- Sunita Devi (model)
- Dolores (model)
- Betty May (model)
- Oriel Ross (model)