Statue of Winston Churchill, Parliament Square
| Winston Churchill | |
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| Artist | Ivor Roberts-Jones |
| Year | 1973 |
| Type | Bronze sculpture |
| Location | Parliament Square, London, United Kingdom |
The statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square, London, is a bronze sculpture of the former British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill, created by Ivor Roberts-Jones.
It is located on a spot referred to in the 1950s by Churchill as "where my statue will go". Unveiled by his widow Lady Clementine Spencer-Churchill in 1973, the unveiling was attended by the serving Prime Minister and four former Prime Ministers, while Queen Elizabeth II gave a speech.
The statue is one of eight on the central green of Parliament Square, all of well-known statesmen.
The statue is 12 feet (3.7 m) high and is made of bronze. It was sculpted by Ivor Roberts-Jones and is located on the main green of Parliament Square, opposite the Palace of Westminster. It shows Winston Churchill standing with his hand resting on his walking stick and wearing a military greatcoat. The plinth is 8 feet (2.4 m) high with "Churchill" inscribed on it in large capital letters. A proposal to insert pins standing out of the statue's head was turned down in the 1970s – the pins were intended to stop wild birds from sitting on its head.
The Churchill Statue Committee had concerns during the statue's development process that it looked "a little too much" like the Italian Fascist leader Benito Mussolini. Whilst the head was still only cast in plaster, a report on it stated that, "At the moment the head is undoubtedly like Churchill, but perhaps not quite right of him at the pinnacle of his career. The cheeks, the eyes, the forehead and the top of the head require improvement. I told Mr. Roberts-Jones that above the eyes I thought I was looking at Mussolini." Roberts-Jones agreed to modify the sculpture to reduce the dome of the head in order to lower the forehead.
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