The Equestrian statue of George I, by John van Nost the Elder,Dictionary of British Sculptors, 1660–1851, Rupert Gunnis is a statue that stands outside the Barber Institute of Fine Arts in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, England. The

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

statue was commissioned by the city of

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

in 1717, as a gesture of loyalty towards

George I George I or 1 may refer to: People * Patriarch George I of Alexandria (fl. 621–631) * George I of Constantinople (d. 686) * George I of Antioch (d. 790) * George I of Abkhazia (ruled 872/3–878/9) * George I of Georgia (d. 1027) * Yuri Dolgor ...

(who had been

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

since August 1714), in the face of support from Irish Catholics for the pretender to his throne, James Stuart. George is shown wearing contemporary clothing, but with a laurel wreath in the Roman style. The work may have been finished by van Nost's students. It was displayed on Essex Bridge (now

Grattan Bridge Grattan Bridge () is a road bridge spanning the River Liffey in Dublin, Ireland, and joining Capel Street to Parliament Street and the south quays. History The first bridge on this site was built by Sir Humphrey Jervis in 1676. It was named ...

) in Dublin from 1722 until some time between 1753 and 1755, when it was removed by

George Semple George Semple (c. 1700 – 13 April 1782) was a notable Irish builder and architect. Life His earliest known work is the steeple, in height, of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, which he designed and erected in 1749. He also built St Patri ...

, who was in charge of rebuilding the bridge, in order to prevent erosion caused by the flow of water around the pedestal on which the statue sat. The statue was re-erected in 1798 in the gardens of the city's Mansion House. It was acquired for the Barber Institute, Birmingham in 1937 (at which time Dublin was the capital of the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between th ...

) by the institute's founding director,

Thomas Bodkin Professor Thomas Patrick Bodkin (21 July 1887 – 24 April 1961) was an Irish lawyer, art historian, art collector and curator. Bodkin was Director of the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin from 1927 to 1935 and founding Director of the ...

, who had arrived there directly from his post as director of the

National Gallery of Ireland The National Gallery of Ireland ( ga, Gailearaí Náisiúnta na hÉireann) houses the national collection of Irish and European art. It is located in the centre of Dublin with one entrance on Merrion Square, beside Leinster House, and another on ...

in 1935. In July 1982, the statue was granted legal protection as a

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

structure, preventing unauthorised removal or alteration.

References

{{Reflist 1717 in art Sculptures in Birmingham, West Midlands Equestrian statues in the United Kingdom George I of Great Britain Grade II listed buildings in Birmingham History of Birmingham, West Midlands History of Dublin (city) Public art in England George 1, Birmingham Statues of monarchs Outdoor sculptures in the United Kingdom