The equestrian statue of Robert the Bruce at the Bannockburn Visitor Centre, Bannockburn,

Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...

, is a 1964 work by Pilkington Jackson.

Description

The bronze sculpture depicts

Robert the Bruce Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (Scottish Gaelic: ''Raibeart an Bruis''), was King of Scots from 1306 to his death in 1329. One of the most renowned warriors of his generation, Robert eventuall ...

wielding an axe and on a war horse. The statue stands on a plinth that bears the inscription "ROBERT THE BRUCE KING OF SCOTS 1306–1329". It is located near the site of the

Battle of Bannockburn The Battle of Bannockburn ( gd, Blàr Allt nam Bànag or ) fought on June 23–24, 1314, was a victory of the army of King of Scots Robert the Bruce over the army of King Edward II of England in the First War of Scottish Independence. It wa ...

. The statue is a A listed building.

History

The statue was commissioned by the

Earl of Elgin Earl of Elgin is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, created in 1633 for Thomas Bruce, 3rd Lord Kinloss. He was later created Baron Bruce, of Whorlton in the County of York, in the Peerage of England on 30 July 1641. The Earl of Elgin is the h ...

in 1964 to commemorate the 650th anniversary of the

. It was sculpted by Pilkington Jackson using the measurements of Bruce's skull, re-discovered at Dunfermline Abbey in 1818. The statue was unveiled by the Queen. In 1966, a replica of the statue was placed outside the Alberta University of the Arts in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, maki ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest T ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

. The statue was funded by Canadian lawyer

Eric Harvie Eric Lafferty Harvie (2 April 1892 – 11 January 1975) was a Canadian lawyer and oilman. Holding mineral rights to large quantities of land in the Edmonton area, Harvie made a fortune after the oil discoveries at Leduc in 1947 and Redwater ...

. From 2009 to 2020, the statue featured on the Clydesdale Bank £20 note. In 2013, the statue was restored in preparation for the 700th anniversary of the

in 2014. The statue which was cast in bronze was slowly turning

green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combin ...

Culture secretary The secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport, also referred to as the culture secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for strategy and policy across the Department ...

Fiona Hyslop Fiona Jane Hyslop (born 1 August 1964) is a Scottish politician who served as Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Fair Work and Culture from 2020 to 2021. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), she has been a Member of the Scottish Parliame ...

said "The Robert the Bruce statue is an iconic part of the Bannockburn site, and a poignant reminder of the battle". On 11 June 2020, following the

actions against memorials in Great Britain during the George Floyd protests A number of statues and memorials have been the subject of protests and petitions during the George Floyd protests in the United Kingdom in 2020. Background For several years, a campaign entitled Rhodes Must Fall had worked towards the removal ...

, the statue was defaced with graffiti. The Scottish king was branded as a racist, despite not being involved in the

slave trade Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

Alyn Smith Alyn Edward Smith (born 15 September 1973) is a Scottish politician. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), he was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Stirling at the 2019 general election. He also served as a Member of the ...

said “I’ve been vocal in my support of #BlackLivesMatter and hope such counterproductive stupidity is an isolated incident.”

References

Equestrian statues in the United Kingdom Buildings and structures in Stirling (city) Outdoor sculptures in Scotland 1964 sculptures Statues in Scotland Listed sculptures in Scotland Category A listed buildings in Stirling (council area) Robert the Bruce Vandalized works of art in the United Kingdom {{UK-sculpture-stub

Description

History

See also

References