A bronze

equestrian statue An equestrian statue is a statue of a rider mounted on a horse, from the Latin ''eques'', meaning 'knight', deriving from ''equus'', meaning 'horse'. A statue of a riderless horse is strictly an equine statue. A full-sized equestrian statue is a d ...

of King Charles II on horseback sits in the Upper Ward of

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history. The original cast ...

beneath the castle's Round Tower.Robinson, p. 55. It was inspired by

Hubert Le Sueur Hubert Le Sueur (c. 1580 – 1658) was a French sculptor with the contemporaneous reputation of having trained in Giambologna's Florentine workshop. He assisted Giambologna's foreman, Pietro Tacca, in Paris, in finishing and erecting the equestr ...

's statue of

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

in London, the statue was cast by Josias Ibach in 1679, with the marble plinth featuring carvings by

Grinling Gibbons Grinling Gibbons (4 April 1648 – 3 August 1721) was an Anglo-Dutch sculptor and wood carver known for his work in England, including Windsor Castle and Hampton Court Palace, St Paul's Cathedral and other London churches, Petworth House and other ...

. The statue was commissioned by

Tobias Rustat Tobias Rustat (bapt. 17 September 1608 – 15 March 1694 N. S.) was a courtier to King Charles II and a benefactor of the University of Cambridge. He is remembered for creating the first fund for the purchase of books at the Cambridge Universit ...

, Charles's valet. Rustat was a significant philanthropist of the 1670s. Rustat's fortune was partially derived from the

transatlantic slave trade The Atlantic slave trade, transatlantic slave trade, or Euro-American slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of enslaved African people, mainly to the Americas. The slave trade regularly used the triangular trade route and i ...

, having been an investor in the

Royal African Company The Royal African Company (RAC) was an English mercantile (trade, trading) company set up in 1660 by the royal House of Stuart, Stuart family and City of London merchants to trade along the West Africa, west coast of Africa. It was led by the J ...

. The rear left hoof of the horse is inscribed 'Josias Ibach Stada Bramesis 1679 FUDIT'. Gibbons had been appointed the 'Surveyor and Repairer of Carved Work at Windsor' in 1682. The

Royal Collection Trust The Royal Collection of the British royal family is the largest private art collection in the world. Spread among 13 occupied and historic royal residences in the United Kingdom, the collection is owned by King Charles III and overseen by the ...

listing for the statue describes the design as "very innovative" in its depiction of Charles as a Roman emperor with its absence of traditional symbols of the

British monarchy The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional form of government by which a hereditary sovereign reigns as the head of state of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies (the Bailiwi ...

such as the

Order of the Garter The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. It is the most senior order of knighthood in the British honours system, outranked in precedence only by the Victoria Cross and the George C ...

. Charles is depicted wearing a suit of armour in a classically Roman style, without spurs and stirrups for his horse. He is crowned with a

laurel wreath A laurel wreath is a round wreath made of connected branches and leaves of the bay laurel (), an aromatic broadleaf evergreen, or later from spineless butcher's broom (''Ruscus hypoglossum'') or cherry laurel (''Prunus laurocerasus''). It is a sy ...

. The statue started a subsequent trend for British monarchs to be portrayed in a Roman style. The statue may have been inspired by the ''

Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius The ''Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius'' (, ) is an ancient Roman equestrian statue on the Capitoline Hill, Rome, Italy. It is made of bronze and stands 4.24 m (13.9 ft) tall. Although the emperor is mounted, it exhibits many similari ...

'' that was originally situated on the

Capitoline Hill The Capitolium or Capitoline Hill ( ; it, Campidoglio ; la, Mons Capitolinus ), between the Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the Seven Hills of Rome. The hill was earlier known as ''Mons Saturnius'', dedicated to the god Saturn. Th ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

with its similar placing of the horse and design of the plinth.

References

* Robinson, John Martin. (2010)
Windsor Castle: the Official Illustrated History.
' London: Royal Collection Publications. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Charles 2, equestrian statue, Windsor Castle 1670s sculptures Bronze sculptures in the United Kingdom Buildings and structures completed in 1679 Charles II of England Equestrian statues in the United Kingdom Monuments and memorials in London Outdoor sculptures in England Sculptures of men in the United Kingdom Statues in England Statues of monarchs Windsor Castle