==References==
==References==
===Bibliography===
===Bibliography===
*{{cite book |last1=Antram |first1=Nicholas |last2=Morrice |first2=Richard |title=Brighton and Hove |date=2008 |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven |isbn=9780300126617}}
*{{cite book |last1=Darke |first1=Jo |title=The Monument Guide to England and Wales: A National Portrait in Bronze and Stone |date=1991 |publisher=Macdonald Illustrated |location=London |isbn=9780356176093}}
*{{cite book |last1=Darke |first1=Jo |title=The Monument Guide to England and Wales: A National Portrait in Bronze and Stone |date=1991 |publisher=Macdonald Illustrated |location=London |isbn=9780356176093}}
*{{cite book |last1=Seddon |first1=Jill |last2=Seddon |first2=Peter |last3=McIntosh |first3=Anthony |title=Public Sculpture of Sussex |date=2014 |publisher=Liverpool University Press |series=Public Sculpture of Britain |location=Liverpool |isbn=9781781381250}}
*{{cite book |last1=Seddon |first1=Jill |last2=Seddon |first2=Peter |last3=McIntosh |first3=Anthony |title=Public Sculpture of Sussex |date=2014 |publisher=Liverpool University Press |series=Public Sculpture of Britain |location=Liverpool |isbn=9781781381250}}
The Statue of George IV stands outside the Royal Pavilion complex in Brighton, on the south coast of England. It was commissioned in 1822 as a tribute to King George IV and unveiled in 1828. It was sculpted by Sir Francis Leggatt Chantrey and is now a Grade II listed building.[1]
The first statue of George IV (then the prince regent) in Brighton was sculpted in stone by John Charles Felix Rossi and erected in 1802 but the prince considered it unflattering. It suffered badly from weathering and was removed in 1819. In March 1822, George Wyndham, 3rd Earl of Egremont, the Lord Lieutenant of Sussex, opened a public subscription fund for a replacement statue. Wyndham was an admirer of Chantrey’s work and commissioned him to create the statue. The work was Chantrey’s first sculpture in bronze. The fund remained open for eight years. Clifford Musgrave, in his history of the pavilion, claimed that the subscriptions were insufficient to cover the whole cost of the statue and that Chantrey made up the shortfall, but this is contradicted by Chantrey’s accounts and Wyndham’s archived correspondence.[1]
The statue was cast from 4 tonnes (4.4 tons) of metal from the Ordnance Office. Chantrey’ fee was 3,000 guineas. He worked from his own foundry in Pimlico, London, which the art historian Margaret Whinney considered to be indicative of a new era of entrepreneurial sculptors who had wealth and social standing. Chantrey made a replica of the statue in 1831, which stands on George Street in Edinburgh, and a copy in marble which was erected at Windsor Castle in 1829.[1]
The statue stands just outside the Royal Pavilion complex, close to the north gate. George is standing, wearing robes and the cape of the Order of the Garter. His head is turned slightly to the right. Hi left hand is grasping his robes and his right arm is outstretched. The sculpture is in bronze and over-life-size at 2.7 metres (9 feet) tall. It stands on a rectangular granite pedestal 3.15 metres (10.3 feet) high and just over 2 metres (6 feet 7 inches) wide at its widest point. On the back of the statue, at the bottom of the robe, is a small signature, “George IV/MDCCCXXVIII/Chantrey, S. C.”.[1][2][3]
The statue was unveiled on 9 October 1828. The occasion was marked with a public dinner, attended by over 120 guests, at the Old Ship Hotel. It originally stood on the Old Steine, to the east of the Royal Pavilion, but moved to its current location by the north gate in 1922 to make room for Brighton War Memorial. It now stands opposite the statue of Queen Victoria (by Carlo Nicoli, unveiled 1897), George’s niece and eventual successor. The proposal for the move generated considerable local debate.[1]
- Antram, Nicholas; Morrice, Richard (2008). Brighton and Hove. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300126617.
- Darke, Jo (1991). The Monument Guide to England and Wales: A National Portrait in Bronze and Stone. London: Macdonald Illustrated. ISBN 9780356176093.
- Seddon, Jill; Seddon, Peter; McIntosh, Anthony (2014). Public Sculpture of Sussex. Public Sculpture of Britain. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. ISBN 9781781381250.
